Travis Frank wants to be part of Estevan city council for a second term.
Frank was elected to council during the 2016 civic election. He said he has learned a lot in the past four years while being part of council, and he wants to make good use of his experience, and ensure there are some people on council who have been there previously.
“There are some strong and knowledgeable people on our council,” said Frank. “Obviously this is a year where there is some turnover, and I didn’t feel I was ready to be done the job, and we needed some experience back in the room.”
Council provides an opportunity to think creatively and to problem solve while tackling some complex issues.
“We love to chop a lot of city things up into simple things, but at the end of the day they’re quite complex, solving budget issues … upgrading facilities, managing projects,” said Frank. “There are always unique issues that we need to find creative solutions for.”
Economic development will be the biggest challenge of the next four years, thanks to the pending closure of Units 4 and 5 at the Boundary Dam Power Station in the next few years.
But he’s pleased to see the work the city has done to upgrade facilities and infrastructure, and to pay down a lot of debt.
“In the last four years, we’ve done everything we needed to do to batten down the hatches, and by upgrading all of our facilities, by paying down as much debt as we did, I think these next four years we need to be focused on weathering the storm, so that we’re prepared to come out of it.”
Sidewalk renewal efforts need to continue, and Frank would like to see more support for pathway projects to make the city easier to navigate for pedestrians. Some of the parks will need upgrades.
He admits it was a tough decision to run again. Since the last election, Frank has gotten married and he has purchased a business, Graphic Press. Committing to four more years was certainly a big decision.
“I knew that I wanted to be able to give the city that experience once again,” said Frank.
And campaigning as an incumbent is also going to be a different experience.
“So now to go and approach an election a little differently than I did the last time, this time having a lot more knowledge of what’s been done and how the city functions, and what problems we’ve tried to solve and weren’t able to … it’s very interesting to go into the election knowing a lot more than I did last time, but very exciting as well,” said Frank.
