My name is Jim Watters. I have lived and worked in Red Deer since 1989.

I am married to Glenda and between us, we have three daughters (Aleisha, Amanda and Megan), a son (Will) and three beautiful grandsons (Rylee, Jacob and Aiden).

Background/Experience

• Red Deer Public School Board Trustee 1998 - 2010
• Member of the Board of Directors for the Eastview Community Association 1999 - 2004
• School Council Vice-Chair Pines Elementary School & Joseph Welsh Elementary School 1994 - 1998

Thoughts

• As a trustee I believe that communication with stakeholders is a vital part of my role.  Listening to all parties provides me with a broader understanding of the issues. I have been a continuous presence at the Red Deer Farmer's Market since 1998, where I made myself accessible to the public even during non-election years.
• As a trustee I have had experience with the tough decisions concerning budgets and spending.  We need to make decisions based on what the tax payer can afford and not assume that tax payers have deep pockets.  The demands that city council will face will be far greater than what the tax payers can pay  As someone used to tell me during the budget process for Red Deer Public Schools - "you can have anything you want but not everything". There will always be a variety of ideas but the limited number of dollars means that we need to make difficult choices.
• Every year there is a budget put aside for snow removal.  We need to develop a policy that allows the remaining amount of unused dollars to be put aside for future years.  This fund can have a cap but the extra money will be available when needed. This could help alleviate windrows and make our streets safer.
• With the city growing, we need to fund the RCMP, Firefighters and Paramedics to an appropriate level of service. We may need to be creative in our budgeting. For example: Can staff be hired to help with office clerical work, allowing  the RCMP to provide a greater presence in the community?

      .   Email  Address       jwattersfamily@shaw.ca

Your Turn

I would appreciate your opinions and ideas about what you feel is important  for Red Deer.

How do you feel about ...?

- 50 metre pool

- 32nd Street and Gaetz Ave. development

- snow removal

- etc.

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