James Lee is among the seven candidates currently running for election to be on Okotoks town council.

Lee has been an Okotokian for about 13 years, having moved from his home city of Calgary.

His primary goal on council would be to improve transparency and communication between council and Okotokians, a concept that's drawn his attention during his time in town.

"The way I see what council is doing as far as spending and all of that, it seems par for the course. My big push is that we need a lot more transparency in the government. We need somebody in there that can hold the government responsible to the people."

He sees social media as a good tool for council to speak directly to Okotokians.

"With social media the way that it is right now, it's pretty easy to follow and put yourself out there locally to people and say, 'Hey I'm going to be at this location. Come down and say hi, and let me know how you're feeling and what you're looking for.' I think that's very important, to have somebody that's approachable and able to listen."

He also places a lot of importance on pandemic recovery and addressing the hurt being felt after the last year and a half.

With a majority of sitting councillors announcing they won't be running for re-election, Lee sees a lot of room for new ideas.

"I think at the end of the day we're all looking to achieve the same goals. We want Okotoks to thrive, and we want residents to be happy with what the town of Okotoks has to offer. I think it's pretty straightforward. Honestly, I think it's nice that there are going to be some new faces for sure, a few new ideas, little bit of a different outlook."

He hopes voters will share in that excitement and that the thrill of selecting an almost entirely new council will render a high turnout.

"Let's get people out to vote. That voter turnout needs to be a little higher I think. That may be something, with all the new faces, maybe we will see voter turnout numbers jumping out."

 

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