“You have to vote for the person, because the issue that is hot today is not tomorrow. "
These are the words of Cochrane's most experienced councillor, Ross Watson, who will be running in October's municipal election for his fifth term.
Watson was first elected to council in 1995, serving two terms until taking a six-year hiatus until he entered the race and was elected again in 2007.
“You have to vote for the person, because the issue that is hot today is not tomorrow. ”
These are the words of Cochrane’s most experienced councillor, Ross Watson, who will be running in October’s municipal election for his fifth term.
Watson was first elected to council in 1995, serving two terms until taking a six-year hiatus until he entered the race and was elected again in 2007.
One of his main priorities was, is and will continue to be, adhering to Cochrane’s 10-Year Financial Strategy - a plan that outlines how the town will achieve its list of goals and what the townspeople are asking for.
Watson said two of the items in the financial plan - the Aquatic Centre and Curling Club - the town would eventually see come to fruition, but it’s the others on the list he is concerned about.
“I don’t want to see the Arts Centre and the bridge get left behind, ” he said, referring to the arts facility slated for the northwest corner of the Quarry site and the Bow River bridge crossing.
Watson believes that the next council must maintain the town’s growth patterns to properly manage its tax base to ensure the Arts Centre and bridge are not put at risk.
Another priority Watson said the next council must preserve from the current one is to continue advocating for upgrades to Highway 1A and its intersection with Highway 22 to the provincial government.
Watson believes the current council has been successful creating what he called a ‘vital business sector’ in Cochrane, and that there has never been such a package of commercial land to be used than there is right now.
“Cochrane has always liked a candidate who says they will slow down growth, ” said Watson. “But Cochrane needs growth and we must manage it. ”
Parks and open spaces are near the top of Watson’s list of priorities, saying that they not only provide connectivity for Cochrane residents, but also helps to preserve the town’s small-town feel.
Transit - more specifically, a multi-modal plan - is also important to the four-time councillor.
Whether it’s bicycle lanes, wider sidewalks for pedestrians, or future planning for a bus system, Watson said that if parents feel safe sending their child on a bike to a sporting event, the town is doing something right.
Cycling is something Watson has been involved in himself for some time now, and he has even went so far as to call Cochrane Eagle columnist, Marathon Man Martin Parnell, to hit the pavement with.
“Martin just might whip me, ” he joked, questioning how he would keep up to the local athlete.
As for a bus system, Watson said he is an advocate for the service, as it serves a certain population in town, but he sees that it requires a graduated approach, one where new developments in Cochrane plan for a future transit service.
Watson said the transit service should start small, see if it works and make changes if need be.
“Buses are not on tracks, ” he said. “They can be moved. ”
In Watson’s 27 years in Cochrane and his four terms as councillor, he is proud of the progress the town has made over that time, pointed to the Quarry site as an example.
“We had a 70-acre ecological disaster right in the middle of the town, ” he said, highlighting how community leaders, such as those in the brownfield committee, have worked to transform the site into a huge success.
Watson said council also made a ‘bold move’ taking $6 million of taxpayer money to build Centre Ave., which showed businesses that Cochrane was ready, willing and able to take them in.
“That $6 million will pay us back multiple times, ” he said.
In addition to his various motivational speeches around town, Watson is the site manager for the William Watson Lodge Society, is the recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, Cochrane’s Hero of the Year and in 2009 received an honourary Doctorate of Law from the University of Lethbridge. Follow Watson on Twitter under his handle @DocRossWatson.
