Local resident Brad Scriver has thrown his hat into the ring and will be seeking a seat on Cranbrook city council for the upcoming municipal election.
Scriver, who has worked in civil construction and was owner of the former Echo Fields paintball business for seven years, decided to run after becoming disenfranchised with the state of fiscal responsibility.
"Over the past couple years, there's been some frivolous spending," said Scriver, "and the more and more I saw of it—it accumulated a year or so ago and [I] said, 'I've had enough, I'm going to do something about it.'
"I don't want to be one of those people complaining about it, I want to be one of the people doing something about it."
Infrastructure is one of his top concerns.
"Roads and water seems to be on everyone's lips and minds. I think we also have to look at storm drainage," Scriver said.
He points to the flooding at Elizabeth Lake as an example of poor storm drainage.
"Now we're looking at that and taking into account everything that happened there, but are we preparing to look at Joseph Creek and the rest of the drainage in this town," Scriver said.
"We've got willows choking that creek to a flood point down behind the mall and nothing's been done or looked at. Are we going to wait until we're facing a few more million dollars in private property damage before we start looking at the other infrastructure systems?"
The economy is another concern for Scriver.
" It's so stagnant, I've seen more For Sale and For Lease signs go up on businesses," Scriver said, "and I'm not talking about businesses that have been here for a year or two, I'm talking about multigenerational businesses that have been in this community for mothers, sons, and grandsons that have taken over these businesses, and they're failing, because there's nothing here for them.
"We have to start looking at what we can do to create an environment that business can thrive in."
Specifically, Scriver wants to see the city take advantage of local companies wherever possible.
"I know there's been discussion about a local hire policy for two or three decades in this city, and there's still nothing in place to provide some protection and some work for the local companies," Scriver said.
"We're still giving all the money away to out-of-town contractors and I'm just of the opinion that an out-of-town price that is a little bit better, is too expensive for the city to buy. We have to start protecting local companies, otherwise there won't be any local companies left."