Mark Albrecht

Local business owner Mark Albrecht joins Brian on the Porch. He is a first time candidate for city council and feels the time is right for him to step up and dedicate himself to the citizens of Medicine Hat. He would like to see a hold on taxes and he explains why he doesn’t think a southside recreation space is a good idea.

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Transcript

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The common consensus is people really would like to see, well, first of all, a functioning government or what they perceive as a functioning government down at City Hall. Again. Number two, are taxes and city spending. This episode of Bring Back the Porch, brought to you by Bernie Leahy, River Street Realty. Let's get you home. And on this episode of Bring Back to Porch candidate Mark Albrecht. Welcome. Thanks. Thanks for having me this afternoon. You are, running for mayor in that city council. And the first question I ask is, why? Well, you know, I've actually wanted to run for council for a long time. Probably for the better part of 25 years. But I was really busy. Busy focused on running my businesses. I didn't feel I had the time to dedicate to it. I would actually really like to dedicate myself full time if I am elected to being a councilor for the city and for the citizens of Madison. But most importantly. Was there something that dragged you into this fight over the last four years, watching what was going on at City Hall? Yeah, actually, I was well, like many of the electorate here in the city, I was very disappointed with what people perceive as the dysfunction of it. And that actually drove me into this race, for sure. Or I might have waited one more, one or another four years before running. You had quite the adventure. You were telling me, getting your name. You missed, the chamber forum because of some paperwork that didn't get to, I guess, into the right place. Some of your, your filing information, you didn't have your social media stuff on it. So you're like the forgotten person in the race here? Yeah. Almost feels like I'm coming from behind all the time. Yeah. There was a clerical error in getting my email address to the chamber so I could get the proper contract documents to sign in time. So. Yeah, but you've been able to take part in some of the other campaign. Oh, yeah. I've been to pretty much any open forum that I can find or been invited to, meet the candidates. And knocking on doors. And knocking on a lot of doors. And what are you hearing on the doorsteps? Actually, you know, the common consensus is people really would like to see, well, first of all, a functioning government or what they perceive as a functioning government down at city Hall again. Number two, are taxes and city spending. You know, a lot of people feel like the city's like this giant speed train right now with its spending under control. And how would you fix that? Right now, I would like to see us try and adopt a policy of what I call our EMS. Repair, maintain and sustain. Sarah, holding pattern for the next few years so we can try and keep taxes down. Put a patch on the tire. I guess. Yeah, put a patch on the tire for now. Okay. Would you spend on any particular projects that you would see it maybe as an investment? Right now I realize that the Stampede Committee would really like to see some upgrades and some fixing done there. And I think that might be an area that we should maybe prioritize if it's that that need of repair. And Southside Recreation Center is another one that people are looking to improve the attraction to business in our city. Yeah. Unfortunately, right now, I'm sort of against the Southside Rec center. I think, we need to grow the city before we can do that. I just don't see us having the population base to support it. Yeah, it's almost the chicken and the egg, though, because some have said you need amenities like that to attract business to broaden your tax base. So, you know, and I agree with that. But, you know, the city of Madison out when you compare it to other centers that are even larger, we have lots of some of the best facilities and amenities, actually, in southern Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. So right now, no. Yeah. Right now. No. Okay, Sam, a solar project is another, one that has a lot of dollar signs involved. Yeah. I think you have a background in the energy industry. Yes. I've, Well, I worked in oil and gas for 20 years, and, being somewhat of a dinosaur, it was hard to convince me that solar energy is even profitable. But I've actually done a fair amount of research on it. And, I guess as long as there's government grants involved, it is somewhat profitable at the moment. I'm not so sure the city should get involved with that, though. I think we should be looking at private investment to develop it. As long as we make a profit too. From your background in oil and gas, it seems to me that a lot of people, when they look at alternative energy, they they always look at it like it's a replacement rather than something that works in conjunction with our oil and gas. Yeah. No, I can't see us getting completely away from fossil fuels. I get solar energy I think would be like an enhancement, you know, maybe provide 30% of the energy that we need or 40%. Okay. Economic development. How would you attract industry to medicine that. You know, one of the things that really surprised me here is that, our city council doesn't have an economic development committee. No, I saw heard that in this last session they had actually voted in favor of, putting a council, a councilman on, a southern or southeast Alberta Economic Development Committee, which would be sharing with foremost, Boy Island, Cypress County in the county of 40 mile. I do believe, but I still think we need to have our own economic development committee. Right in council. Do you think the mayor should be the head of, the spearhead to to get more business into medicine that. Well, the mayor is actually the ultimate ambassador for the city. So, yeah, I would be inclined to think that the mayor should be spearheading that operation. Okay. If not, you know, depend on your council for it. Okay. You say your your platform is, repair, maintain and sustain. Yes. Do you apply that to property taxes? Well, I would like to see us try to keep our, I realize our hold is almost impossible. We're trying to keep them as low as possible for the next four years. And how do we do that? Because people expect a certain level of service. I think by, keeping the policy of our master repair means repaint or repair, maintain and sustain. We should be able to, keep the level of service that we do have, without adding a bunch of extra capital investment costs. When you've been on the campaign trail and in some of these events with, the other candidates. What kind of a feeling you get from the field that have 39 people have put their names out to be elected? It's kind of crazy, I feel, but it's it's fun at the same time because there's so many different ideas out there floating around, and people with diverse backgrounds are running this time around as well. And is that good? I think. It's good. You know, you need a well balanced mix on council, I think, to represent, you know, all the segments of the population. I mean, you know, we got younger people running, lots of business people running. There's teachers that are running again. Like, you know, I think the whole community sort of, represented with who's running right now. What are your thoughts on infrastructure in the city? Are we in good shape or. There's some things that we need to spend money on repair, maintain, sustain. Well, you know, I know that there's still sewer lines that need to be replaced in the city for sure. And, there's roads that need to be fixed for sure, you know, including Third Street, Riverside and Riverside residents. So. Do you want to see the same kind of traffic calming measures that we saw on lot on Division Avenue? South? No, I don't I feel that the people in Madison that don't want to see that they're not ready for it, and I don't know if we'll ever be ready for it. You know, we have sort of the 15, 20 minute city as it is. Now, you know, I'll go to Third Street, Riverside. A lot of the residents have proposed just putting on a couple more crosswalks. Just so the people are a little safer as they're walking across what is, a link to the highway? Yeah. For sure. You know, they've, sort of suggested that there should be one coming in off the highway or closer to that end, and then another one down there by the business block or zucchini blossom gas king and, pork park. Lounger. Okay. When we look at this past city council, they were criticized for being dithering in some circles. And the, idea has been put out there that perhaps that image came because they did much of their business in open, council transparency is the word that everybody keeps, kicking around on the field. Do you think that this city council, was too transparent, or would you be in favor of even more, Geez, that's a loaded question. You know, I'm all in favor of transparency, but some of these issues, need to be discussed in private, and then council before you can bring them to the public. You know, especially if you have a new business coming into the city. A lot of that has to be kept confidential, or else they're just not going to come here. Yeah. Yeah. Those are the kind of things that people sometimes think. Well, they're they're keeping secrets from us. Not necessarily secrets like. You mean that information always comes out? It's just, you know, in order to get that stuff to happen, we have to have those discussions behind closed doors. And fortunately. There is a time and a place. Exactly. As a business person, how you dealt with City Hall, have you found them to be open and available or maybe a little bit, You know, for overall, my experience and, you know, I've run businesses out of the city here for 29 years. I never had any issues or problems. I got to be honest. Getting a permit wasn't an issue. No, permitting was pretty easy. You know, my my last business was actually Moreau's Italian Cafe and bar. And in terms of the fire permit, the business license, it was all pretty simple and straightforward. I like Moreau's, we used to go there often. I did not know that that was your business. That was my last venture for the last nine years. So that at the end of May. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we miss going there, so there you go. Municipal Controlled Corporation was one of the things that's, been at the forefront here. Whether or not, people who are elected to city council have the business acumen or the knowledge to run our city utility, which is, been the goose that laid the golden egg for our city for many years. Some thought maybe we need to remove that, from the, responsibilities of the city council. Yeah. Oh, no. Actually, the city's run it for the last 100 and 2025 years. I feel that it should still be in the hands of council and the paid administrators for it. I mean, I have this model. If it's not broken, don't fix it. Yeah, I know, I think just because of, maybe they didn't pay attention to the increased pricing at the time, and they took a lot of flack from the public. Maybe that's why they want to create a municipal, you know, controlled corporation to run it. Sort of like none of that on me. Yeah. You know what? We can blame administration for it. No mustard seed. And, the problem with people who don't have a permanent place to live is another issue that everybody sees. If you come through, downtown Madison, that on a regular basis. Your thoughts on that? You know, I really wish I had the solution for that. I mean, I'm sure I'd be. Well, probably one of the wealthiest guys in North America, because just about every town and city has this issue and problem right now. As a council, I think we can work together to find a new home for the mustard seed. I'm just not sure where we're going to put it yet. I'm open to any suggestions for sure, and I will work with the newly elected council the best I can to try and find a solution. For right now, I don't have one. I wish I did. Yeah. Transit is another one that we talked about here at the table. With people saying, you know, it's not efficient. I can't get to where I want to go when I need to get there. Have you, looked in any of the issues surrounding our transit service? Yeah, you know, it's one of them, too. Like, it's a really complex issue to try and fix. I would I would be in favor of a lot smaller busses for one, and maybe, more routes for them. I just, you know, it's been a common, common problem for a lot of years already. I remember when John John Hamill was one of the counselors. It was one of his biggest frustrations. And he had pitched for, busses with less seats, actually. And I don't know, the joke was that they ended up getting the same size busses, just with less seats. Yeah, it has been. And it's not for lack of trying on the on the part of the city. They have tried many different things to try to increase people using the transit service. But yeah, that's the other issue. You mean you see these busses empty most of the time? You know, I'm just, Yeah. I'm really not sure how to fix that one either. Okay. When we go into the ballot box, October the 20th, we have eight pieces of currency that we can spend among 39 people who want my coin. My ex. Why should I spend it on Mark? You know what? I've always had a strong worth work ethic. From the time I was 15 years old and on, my first job was actually at Madison at Co-op. I worked there for seven years, and then I did a brief stint at the university newspaper, the Montanan. I came in, and then when I came back to Madison, had I went straight into oil and gas, I started a small one man consulting company and built it up to about 12, 15 consultants. We worked for energy giants like ConocoPhillips. I mean, it was our job to work with local governments, landowners and the oil companies to make sure everybody be happy with the projects that we were looking after. Yeah, I'd be bringing 29 years of business experience to the table, and I'm a pretty shrewd money guy. Okay. Are you a consensus builder? Absolutely. I love collaborating and working with people and trying to get everybody on board. Sometimes people get me on board. So you. Your mind isn't permanently fixed like concrete all mixed up and said. No, absolutely not. You have to keep an open mind, especially in municipal government, especially from what I've watched of it and from the last four years. Okay, Mark. All right. Candidate for medicine at City council. Thank you for your time. Oh, thank you.