Declared town council candidate Alex Reed prides himself on being a straight shooter.

So you quickly realize he's pulling no punches when he declares town council has lost sight of what is appealing about Cochrane and is fed up with the number of poor decisions being made. Listening to others, he believes he's not alone.

"I have gotten to the point where it's time to stand up and say 'enough is enough' and I wish to do something about it," says Reed.

Right now there's no room for 'yes man' on council, he believes, and it's time to get action on such pressing issues as traffic, transportation, water/sewer infrastructure and seniors.

He believes council has become fixated on development and courting developers and along the way have lost sight of what really matters--quality of life for our current residents.

"We need to put the infrastructure in place to handle the development. I think there is a better relationship that could be had between the developers and the town. The bridge, for example. I think there was enough money associated with Riversong and Fireside and all those development to be able to build the bridge. The bridge should have already been developed but the money has been squandered."

He's deeply concerned the town is living beyond its means and believes the other foot will be coming down soon on the true cost of constructing the aquatic and curling club expansion and is convinced operating costs will be higher than anticipated.

"That is going to be a white elephant, white whale if you will, to us because we still have no idea what it's going to fully cost us. I think the marketing and fundraising expectations were completely blown out of reality and I think the projected operating costs of that facility, although that shoe hasn't dropped yet, are not going to happen. So a number of other critical infrastructure projects that should have been built or could have been built, will now have to be put on hold or never be developed because we will be paying for that legacy for years to come."

"Am I frustrated about what has gone on? You bet. Do I think the people who are involved made the right decisions? I don't they intended to do so in a malicious way, I just don't think they were well informed. I don't think they had a vision to be able to look into the future and were too concerned about the present."

The MBA is surprised council has never apologized for the overruns and believes they should own it.

"I would be the first to apologize if I made a mistake like that cost overrun. I think when this new council gets in there, whether I'm there or not, they're going to find a number of other skeletons in the closet that are going to be costly. I think for this next council, it's going to be a difficult four years because they will be holding the line, they'll be cutting back because they'll be paying for the pool and other things that I think are going to emerge."

He has other concerns. He believes there needs to focus on our growing seniors population and made sure we have adequate access to facilities and accommodations. While some new seniors housing is coming on stream in the community, it will be out of reach for many who have made a modest living.

While he knows it's challenging, he believes the town needs to have more meaningful consultations with residents.

"I have attended a number of town consultations and meetings and it's a wash. You can tell the decisions have already been made and they're not really listening."

As chair of the Cochrane Planning Commission (CPC), he says dozens of suggestions have been brought to council and they've fallen flat on their face. He says relations with administration have improved but there's a disconnect with town council.

"If you look at the decisions we made on CPC, council has just turned a blind eye or just ignored them."

He says upcoming major issues the town will be facing include our water and sewage upgrades, the new police building and the current contractual negotiations with RCMP officers which he suspects will likely leave the town shelling out a sustantial amount of backpay.

At this point in his life, the six-year resident says he has nothing personal to gain by running for council and to him it's about giving back after a successful career.

Reed serviced for nine years with the Athabasca town council. He has been a member of the Cochrane Planning Commission for five years and has raised its profile while serving in the chair for the last two years. Professionally he served for 35 years in senior post-secondary administration in educational institutions, including university vice-president. He is currently executive director of Pacekids, a nonprofit organization that helps preschool-aged children with disabilities, and took it from the verge of bankruptcy six years ago to an $8.2 million operation and went from serving 35 families to just under 500.