This Month with Mayor Ken Johnston: January 2022

I am so happy to be able to connect with Red Deerians in this format, and I want to first thank rdnewsNOW for the opportunity. One of the top priorities of council is to be able to better connect with our citizens and provide more information to you – the people that matter the most to us, the people who entrusted us with these positions of leadership. Council and I want to share with you our goals, strategies, and vision for this great city, and be open to conversations about how we can lead this city together into the future.

I look forward to connecting in with you each month to answer your questions and share what is going on in our community. I go to work each day to do the very best for you, Red Deer. I am committed to being open, honest and accessible to each and every one of you. Thank you for all you do.

2. How are you and council feeling about the way the Alberta government is currently handling the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic?

These past few years have been incredibly challenging for all of us. Like you, I did not expect us to still be in this place we find ourselves in, and certainly not facing a fifth wave of COVID-19. I know we are all tired of this, but we must remain resilient, strong and above all – kind to each other. Know that I am here with you, living this alongside of you.

Being a leader during these challenging times is certainly not for the faint of heart. It is important to recognize that both the Federal and Provincial governments have made mistakes during the pandemic, but I think we have learned a lot from those mistakes and are in a very different place during this fifth wave of the pandemic than we were at the start. Government must find the proper balance between keeping citizens safe, protecting the capacity of our health care system, and the mental and economic wellbeing of all individuals.

3. How would you describe the current state of morale in the city of Red Deer, and do you have any thoughts on how we as a community can make it better? What do you like to do to maintain a positive outlook?

This is a great question and is one that is of great concern to me as not only the Mayor of this great city, but a fellow community member. I know that our community is tired and many of us are feeling burned out, especially front-line workers in all segments of our economy, but particularly in our health care system.

We are feeling tired, overwhelmed, burned out and a little pessimistic, not our normal buoyant community-minded selves. The last few years have truly polarized and divided us based on our beliefs and positions on things like vaccines and masking. And I get it. We believe something so strongly that it can be hard to see the other side. It is creating a divide between family members, friends, coworkers, and strangers.

I don’t know what the answer to this is, but I hope that once we can all come up for air, and see the other side of this pandemic, we can come down from a place of fear and see each other again. I hope that we can put our differences aside and come together as a community to support the rebuilding of not only our city and our economy, but of our relationships. The best part about Red Deer is the people who live here. I encourage everyone to occasionally step away from the news and find something or someone that brings you joy. To look forward to what’s to come, because I know there are great things in store for 2022. I remain positive that we will all come together when it counts. I know Red Deerians are kind, supportive, caring and that we will rebuild better than we were before. I truly believe the best is yet to come.

4. What are you and council going to be focusing on this upcoming month, and are there any positive interactions or community stories you would like to share with us and our readers?

Looking forward, I have been asked what council and I will be focused on in the month ahead. My council colleagues and I have certainly hit the ground running since the election and are incredibly optimistic about not only the challenges ahead, but the opportunities they present. Work is underway to begin council’s Strategic Plan, which works to establish our priorities as a council. We look forward to connecting in with our public on that in the coming months. We are also making great progress with establishing a permanent emergency shelter for our community and taking the much-needed steps to address housing and homelessness. We will continue to advocate to the other levels of government for issues affecting us all, including continuing to advocate for emergency ambulance dispatch, and the expansion of the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre. And of course, continue the valuable work of attracting and retaining businesses to our wonderful city. Personally, I am also looking forward to the upcoming State of the City addresses I will be delivering to local service clubs and to the Red Deer Chamber of Commerce in February and March.

Being Mayor, I am in the fantastic position to be offered opportunities to connect with citizens for a variety of matters that are uplifting and rewarding in so many ways. One that has resonated with me recently was the opportunity to bring greetings to one, and soon to be two, amazing women in our community celebrating their 100^th birthday. Both amazing women have a history of generously serving their community throughout their many wonderful years and provide a legacy that is living proof of the potential we all have. It gives us a sort of comfort in recognizing the milestone these women have achieved because they have such a track record of service, community mindedness and dedication to our community, that it really does bring you hope. I am so grateful to be able to meet people like this in our community and celebrate milestones alongside them.

Second, I have been encouraged and impressed by the community garden effort in West Park. The West Park Community Association is doing amazing work with their community gardens by significantly expanding the garden plots and celebrating our natural environment. To me, this is not just about gardening – this is about community building. It is about bringing people together in a time when we have been so pulled apart. That is what the core of our city is all about, it is about how we relate to each other, and community gardens truly do bring people together. Congratulations to the community association in West Park for all the work they are doing to build community through gardening.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: The views expressed above are those of the Mayor and do not necessarily represent those of rdnewsNOW or Pattison Media. Column suggestions and letters to the editor can be sent to news@rdnewsNOW.com.

by Ken Johnston, Mayor of Red Deer

This Month with Mayor Ken Johnston: January 2022

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