  Dear Sylvan Lake residents, business owners, and media: Please be advised that I, Tanner Waldo, intend to run in the 2004 municipal election in the town of Sylvan Lake, AB, for the position of town council. With the number of young people running in this upcoming election, I would like to take a moment to state that my decision to run for council was made long before Chris Janke and Kevin Brown made their intentions known. The platform you will find attached has been in the works for several months. While I do welcome the amount of youth running in the election, I am aware that, as a young candidate, I must strive exceptionally hard to help voters distinguish between a fringe candidate, such as Janke, and reliable, sincere candidates, such as I consider myself.
With that said, I am looking forward to running with Janke, Brown, and all the other candidates. I am confident that together, we all believe in the power of the vote, and will be able to rally a large voter turnout. When citizens vote, democracy has prevailed, and we all win, regardless of who is elected in the end. My platform is one of change, and emphasizes safety, smart development and creating a walkable community, as well as recognizes the importance of youth and seniors in our society. While the entire platform can be found enclosed, here are a few key objectives: Engage young people in local politics by holding occasional town meetings at the local high school, H.J.
Cody. Encourage more away from shore commercial development. Require residential and commercial developers to create green space, such as playgrounds and walking paths in all new developments. Create a safer municipality by lighting up identified dark areas, and making it illegal to cross the railway tracks anywhere other than at designated crossings. Restrict the parking of recreational vehicles and trailers along Lakeshore Drive during summer months, and act on completed traffic studies.
Please watch for me around town, and if you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact me at tannerw@telus.net, or (403) 392-5721. Regardless of who you vote for, stand up for your freedom this fall, and vote! Sincerely, Tanner Waldo, Sylvan Lake, AB. Tanner Waldo Sylvan Lake Municipal Election Platform 2004 Seniors and Youth: Seniors and youth are two very important parts of our society, yet they are often over looked when it comes to making decisions that matter most to them. Currently, Sylvan Lake does have a Youth Advisory Board, which is a group of students and youth, appointed by council, to represent the youth of Sylvan Lake at meetings with council. However, it is the general feeling that this board is rarely taken seriously, and has essentially been disbanded. If elected to council, I would encourage the youth to re-form a similar board, and would be willing to personally meet with this board once a month, and in addition to their meetings with council, I would personally take their views and opinions to council at every meeting. I would also encourage our senior population to form a similar board, and I would likewise be willing to meet with them on a monthly basis.
There has always been much talk in our community about creating a Youth Drop In Centre. I would support the project that is currently underway, under direction of the current Sylvan Lake Community Youth Services Association. This is an independant non-profit volunteer board that governs themselves, is not connected to the Town of Sylvan Lake or the Community Youth Services Project.
If elected to council, I would attempt to work closely with social studies and humanities teachers in our local elementary, middle, and high schools to get youth involved in the political process by inviting the classes to attend town council meetings, and propose to council that regular town council meetings be periodically held in the schools of Sylvan Lake, with an open question period for students to voice their concerns. I believe more students would attend open council meetings if they were held on home turf, somewhere more familiar to them.
I would also propose council look into the cost operating the current seniors shuttle to transport seniors to and from council meetings, with a meet the council night held at the Friendship Centre, or other nearby available venue, after select meetings. Development: Sylvan Lake has always been a town with a strong sense of community. Every day, a large part of that community travels to surrounding cities and towns to work and to shop, taking valuable economic activity, and the skills and talents of our citizens, away from Sylvan Lake. We rely heavily on Red Deer to provide the bread and butter for our children. I would love to see a more economically independent Sylvan Lake, a town where skilled citizens can work within walking distance or a short drive away from their children's schools, child care facilities, and extra curricular activities. When citizens leave their community to work, they inevitably take their business away, as well. Every week, our citizens are supporting other economies by purchasing gasoline, groceries, gifts and fast food in other communities because it is convenient to where they work and play.
When community members work in Sylvan Lake, it not only builds a stronger sense of community, a large part of our citizens spending is put directly back into the local economy. I would bring to council ideas of strong commercial and industrial growth within Sylvan Lake, while also stressing the importance of preserving our lake for future generations. Commercial development in Sylvan Lake should be directed to more away from shore projects, similar to Hewlett Park Landing.
The Environment: The environment is the most important part of our lives. Without it, we literally would have nothing, not even our own lives. I am dedicated to protecting the fragile ecosystems in our lake and surrounding wooded areas, as well as setting a positive example for our regional neighbors and the rest of the country in general. At council meetings, I would bring to the table ideas to encourage more away from shore development, while slowing lakeside development. I would also introduce ideas to council that would provide special incentives to home builders, development firms, and residents for building structures that operate with solar, geo-thermal, or other sources of green energy.
I'm dedicated to an active and walkable community, and would also like to see all new subdivisions and commercial developments contain green space and walking paths. For years, there has been talk around town about developing the former CP Rail line into a pathway and public green space. Rather than building houses, the town should be looking at properly devloping this valuable area with playgrounds, public water fountains, benches and picnic tables. Accessibility and Transparency: Accountability. It's something that is becoming harder and harder to come by in all levels of government. Wasteful spending doesn't occur only on federal and provincial levels, but on a municipal level as well. This year, Sylvan Lake town councilors sent themselves on a budget retreat to Canmore, Alberta. I would never vote in favour of such spending, and would urge council to hold any meetings or retreats at one of the many venues that are available locally. All municipal politicians should be easily accessible by the general public. The current town website contains no e-mail links to any of our elected officials.
All municipal politicians should make publicly available their contact information, and be dilligent at responding to the people who elected them to power. Safety: In 2002, A program was launched in Sylvan Lake called Community Works. The youth working on this program identified several projects to enhance safety in our community. One of the projects was to light-up several areas in Sylvan Lake. As a councilor, I would propose to my fellow members of council that the Town of Sylvan Lake proceed with this project. A few of the areas to be lit-up include: a) The alleyway behind Bikini's and The Big Moo b) The Pier (which would require co-operation from the Province of Alberta) The paved path that runs alongside the railway tracks, behind Pizza Hut Express. The shale pathway along the beach (would require co-operation from the Province of Alberta). If the rest of council could be convinced to proceed with this safety-enhancing project, I would also make several suggestions that would make these lighting projects more sustainable for the future, and to set a positive green example for neighboring communities.
These suggestions would include using solar powered lights to save on power costs and costs associated with running power cable to all of the areas to be lit. To further enhance safety, I would propose the extension of the current chain link fence along the railway tracks for the entire length of the rail line within municipal limits, as well as propose a bylaw making it illegal to cross the tracks anywhere but at specified crossings.
Additional crossings for pedestrians and cyclists may also be an option, to ensure a convenient, 'walkable' community. Another safety enhancing step the town could take is to monitor more closely the bars downtown, and ensure they are adhering to policy in regards to fire-code and capacity. Bars that become too crowded are more often to lead to fights and other disturbances. Parking and Traffic: In the summer, downtown traffic causes a concern for everyone.
I'm in favour of making it illegal to park recreational vehicles and trailers along Lakeshore Drive from June to October, and would rather see a separate, paid lot for such vehicles. I am also in favour of using parking meters downtown, with residents being offered to buy heavily discounted flat rate permits that would allow them to park anytime. There have been traffic studies completed within recent memory, but we've seen little real improvement in the flow of traffic in Sylvan Lake. If elected to council, I would push for real changes, as recommended in the recent traffic studies. 
