Former town councillor Jeff Genung declares he's 'all in' in his bid to replace Ivan Brooker as mayor of Cochrane and says it's time for a fresh approach.

"I'm running for mayor because I can no longer watch the things that I love about our community totally erode away," says Genung."Cochrane is at risk and if it's not managed in a more accountable manner our community will be lost."

The co-owner of Coffee Traders and lifelong resident says his campaign, 'Community Now', centres on themes of connection, communications and culture.

"It's time to take back our town, it's time for planned and managed growth, it's time to approach the issues facing this community in a different way. It's time to turn our attention back into our community and fix what's broken."

He says the announced intersection upgrade for Hwy. 1A and 22 is a quick fix that doesn't address the entire issue. The two highways must be twinned through town, including the existing bridge over Hwy. 22. He believes the methods currently used to push the issue aren't working. The town must be more aggressive in selling their case, even if it takes daily communications with the Transportation minister, having all councillors actively lobby at the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association convention and joining forces with nearby communities who share the frustration.

"This is serious issue that has been impacting Cochrane for years and I don't think it should come as any surprise that we're faced with this now when we've been talking about it for over 30 years."

Genung foresees traffic issues emerging in every corner of the community if action isn't taken now.  He believes a balance must be struck between growth and the needs and concerns of existing residents and must be addressed prior to development, not after.

"Council needs to put rules and checklists in place so these things don't happen like we are experiencing today. We have good planners, we have good engineers and all their rules are set by council. Council needs to change the rules."

But this isn't an one issue election and he says anyone would be blind to think so. Policing, social service, local public transit are among items that need to be considered now before they become issues.

He also wants more transparency in council's decision making and to involve residents in task forces on major issues, like off-leash dog parks, culture centre, even community development, something that has been deserted by recent councils. He admits the council he served on had too many committees but now there's too few.

He points to the off-leash dog issue as one that could have been avoided if such an approach was taken.

"If all these people were at the table at the beginning I don't think we'd have the issue we have today."

He also would encourage councillors to not be afraid to express their opinions and to have healthy debates.

"I truly believe the sharing of ideas and having people debate them in public is how innovative solutions to problems can be attained."

Furthering this approach, he calls for more transparency in the practises of the town.

"Conducting the business of our town must be done out in the open and community dollars spent purposefully with disclosure."

He salutes the work of volunteer groups in town and believes they need to feel supported in their valuable contribution to the community.

He is committed to offering a long-term lease to the Cochrane Lions Club for the Rodeo Park and events centre and he sees the potential in repurposing the now closed Big Hill Pool as a seniors centre, calling its current location in the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sport Centre as inaccessible and inconvenient for many seniors.

He's a frequent user of the new pool and says the prices are higher but it's a far superior facility. Like many, he's waiting for the final numbers to come in for the project but unlike many he says it should have been built in the mid-2000s when first identified as a need. Building it now has resulted in a higher price tag and limited funds for needed infrastructure.

The pool, too, also will limit what changes can be made to the town budget that the new council will be dealing with immediately after being elected.

"There isn't going to be a lot of things that people can do differently in year one, so in the first year a small adjustment then put the pedal down in year two, three and four."

He doesn't take particular issue with developments outside of the town boundaries but leaves the door open to appealing plans that could be deterimental to Cochrane.

"I support our neighbours. We can't control their growth. I like that they are at the table for contributing to projects like the pool. I think our regional partnerships needs to be tapped into a little more to keep discussions open around traffic. It's not just our traffic we're fighting, they're fiighing the same traffic through our community as well. Our citizens travel through Rockyview to get to our community so you have to be good neighbors. As much as we'd like to say no more growth, I think that's impossible."

Genung served on Cochrane town council from 2001 -2007 but chose not to seek re-election to take the time to focus on his young family and his business. He's now ready to return.

"We were pushing for growth at the time and I think the pendalum has swung so far the other way out of control that it's time to help swing it back and these drastic changes are exactly what I think would be different."

 "I'm all in. I've grown up in Cochrane, I've gone to school in Cochrane, I've raised my kids in Cochrane, my parents are both active seniors in Cochrane and I operate a business in Cochrane. So my fall back plan is Cochrane."