The election race officially kicked off Monday afternoon and residents had their first taste of the three mayoral candidates – Jeff Genung, Ivan Brooker and Tom Hardy – during the Cochrane and District Chamber of Commerce’s mayoralty debate that evening.
All three candidates squared off, answering questions relating to economic development, growth, green spaces and traffic to name a few.
While it was listed as a debate, it was far more cordial – to the point that moderator Stephen Simms described it as overtly Canadian. While all three candidates had a few counter points on certain issues, there were many instances where they notably agreed with each other.
What did standout was the grasp of the issues all three candidates demonstrated.
Incumbent Ivan Brooker was on point throughout the evening, displaying his strong knowledge of town issues and municipal practices. He used that depth to counter ideas presented by other candidates on suggestions such as raising the amount of offsite levies or the cons of the town moving ahead on improving provincial highways on its own.
Genung, who comes to the table with previous council experience and as a longtime business owner, exuded a passion for the town and expressed a desire to see change, focusing on improving quality of life for residents before moving ahead with further growth. He was unfazed by counterpoints from Brooker, who shot down ideas regarding making developers pay more through offsite levies due to legal restraints. Genung answered by continuing his theme of thinking outside the box, stating the town should pressure for changes to the Municipal Government Act.
Newcomer Hardy, the wildcard in the race who enters with no political experience, was confident and well spoken. He held his own against the two veterans and emphasized a need for better future planning and forcing developers to meet the needs of Cochrane instead of vice-versa. Hardy is undoubtedly intelligent and demonstrated an ability to problem solve when he suggested the town could begin live streaming council meetings and better engage the public with inexpensive technology such as a cell phone. He offered the solution as an interim idea to counter Brooker’s assertion that such a plan was coming but was awaiting the build up of funding. Intelligence and confidence does not make up for experience however, and he does need to know when to admit he has things to learn. There were times he tried to make up for lack of knowledge with intelligent sounding verbiage, but voters quickly see through that.
All in all, the slate of mayoral candidates is strong and all three bring something to the table – Brooker’s experience, Genung’s passion, Hardy’s youthful energy and fresh ideas.
Over the next three weeks, we will see how they plan to set themselves apart and rally voters to their campaign.
