With nearly four months until the municipal election, another candidate has announced he wants a seat on city council, making for two thus far.

Reggie Lang made his intentions know first, back around the beginning of May and now a second candidate has filed nomination papers.

Mark Steffler is a retired engineer who spent over 30 years in the industry.  Steffler and his wife raised three sons who are now grown and continue to make Airdrie their home.  He's been an active volunteer, including being a member of the Airdrie Planning Commission since 2014 and serving at St. Paul's Catholic Church in the city.

The 21-year resident of Airdrie said running for council has always been on his list of long-term plans of things he'd like to accomplish.

"I've always been interested in doing it.  Always been interested in being one of the leaders in the community,  You've got to get out there and do stuff to be a leader.  You've got to take chances and go."

It's not because Steffler has any issues with how Airdrie is being run right now.  "I think the city has been well run since I've been here.  I don't have any agendas or going into it with any axes to grind."  The reason Steffler has chosen to run is to keep the momentum going for the city.

While he may not have any issues he's trying to fix, he does see some areas that need his attention.  Three of them make up his platform with the first being to see the city's downtown revitalization plan completed.

"Our downtown's dead and the city's done a lot of work in creating the new downtown revitalization plan and the library's the first stage of that.  So to keep that momentum going and get people into the downtown."

Steffler has a vision for the downtown that involves residents living in the core and small shops and cafes to get people to meet downtown.

The second plank in his platform is improving the quality of life for seniors in Airdrie, through housing and care.

"We're quite a young city," Steffler explained, "and we don't have a lot of options for seniors.  My parents were living in Airdrie and the options were limited for them for what they wanted so they ended up going into Calgary.   We have a lot of the independent care type facilities in Airdrie but we don't have a lot of options for seniors and the services seniors need."

The recent pandemic has affected seniors the hardest, and Steffler wants to see better seniors care and more options for housing and other needs.

Being a former engineer, the third thing that Steffler wants to see is right up his alley.  

"Capital asset management.  That's where I've been involved most of my career, in capital planning and long-term planning of capital infrastructure.  Within the city, we've got a lot of new infrastructure so it's not a problem now but over time it's going to become more of a financial burden and how we plan for that infrastructure, how we budget for it, how we prioritize what we get done and making sure that there's a reserve fund that goes towards upgrading that capital in the future."

He said that includes roads, sewers and other traditional infrastructure, but also green infrastructure like trees, creeks and other natural areas.

There is one other issue that it is important to focus on, according to Steffler, and that's community engagement.

"One of the things about living in a democracy is it brings choices, but it also brings debate and debate leads to controversy.  I think we need to listen  respectfully to the debate and everybody's point of view, and then at the end of the day make a decision that's in the best interest of the entire community rather than just hitting the feeling of the day."

To learn more about Steffler's vision for Airdrie go to www.marksteffler.ca.  

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