Several months ago, Ryan Mennie announced he was running for city council in Lethbridge.
The Oct. 20 elections were a distant dream at that time, but Mennie felt it was the right moment for him to enter Lethbridge politics.
“That was five months of knocking on doors, talking to people. I started campaigning back in May. Everything that I had been hearing, there was a lot of frustration, there were folks that felt like they weren’t being heard,” said Mennie.
But like any good story, there was a twist leading up to the climax: Mennie refiled his paperwork at the last moment — declaring his intention to run for mayor instead.
“I didn’t see a true, honest option coming forward as we got closer to the cutoff,” he said.
“I realized with a week to go, and no other contenders with experience, I had to jump in and take on that role.”
Before he joined the race, the names on the mayoral ballot were incumbent Blaine Hyggen, peace activist Michael Petrakis and University of Lethbridge student Quentin Carlson.
Mennie says his background is strong enough to make him a legitimate contender in the race.
“I learned through the school of hard knocks how to be a city councillor in a very challenging time in a community that I was serving at that time.”
While working in radio, Mennie’s career took him to Campbell River in British Columbia, where he served as a two-term councillor. However, he said Lethbridge always held his heart.
“I’ve been back (in Lethbridge) now for over a decade,” he said.
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“I chose this place to return to grow my little family.”
Aside from his three-decade career behind the mic and his terms on council, Mennie worked at Lethbridge Polytechnic and also spent some time performing in the arts.
However, he says the problems facing Lethbridge are growing, including affordability.
“The world has discovered (Lethbridge) and that’s wonderful, but the byproduct of that is our taxes (have gone up). Mine alone in the last two years went up $1,000 per year,” he said.
“Our salaries aren’t matching those kinds of increases — they’re unsustainable. We have to work to find a way to take the tax burden off of the taxpayers.”
How does he plan to solve this issue? He says it’s all about expanding the tax base.
“You’re lowering taxes on one hand, you’re bringing in taxes on the other from new industry, new jobs, helping accelerate that process.”
He says some of that expanded tax income could also help fund a third bridge in Lethbridge, which he says is past the point of being a “nice thing to have.”
“It’s now critical infrastructure that is holding back our economy, it is holding back our community’s safety, and it is integral,” Mennie said.
If elected, he says he would lobby the provincial and federal government for additional funding for the bridge.
“We’re past due on when it was needed.”
When it comes to public safety, Mennie says using targeted strategies could be the best way forward.
“The legacy issue that we’ve had is Galt Gardens and the safety of downtown. You want to support those businesses, but it doesn’t feel like, at times, a safe place,” he said.
“That’s a centre core region of the city that I want to make better.”
Similar strategies have already been employed by the Lethbridge Police Service, which Mennie has praised and promises to continue. However, he says the battle against crime needs even more action.
“Are there things that we could be doing right now that we’re not? 100 per cent.”
Those include further expanding on support for homeless and drug-addicted people.
“Whether that’s a combination of services, housing and the full support structure that they need to get their lives back on track,” Mennie said.
“It (would) also my job as mayor to advocate continually with the province, get those people the help that they need — get us the funding to get those people the help that they need.”
That advocacy work, Mennie says, can begin right away due to his time on council in B.C.
“I’m walking in from Day 1 knowing how to do the job. But I was also — as a broadcaster — for the first eight years I was back here, connected to the community, two-way conversations in all aspects, with residents, with businesses, finding out about what they love about this community and where they’d like to see it go.”
Global News is featuring all four mayoral candidates before election day on Oct. 20.
To see more on candidate Blaine Hyggen, visit this post.
To see more on candidate Quentin Carlson, visit this post.
To see more on candidate, Michael Petrakis, visit this post.
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