Lacombe Mayor Steve Christie has decided that he won’t seek re-election this fall when voters make their way to the polls in October.
“With much consultation with my family, with my wife and friends and extended family, I won’t be joining you (this fall),” said Christie. “When I ran, I always said that I wanted to go out on a high note. I think Lacombe is in a good place, and I think we’ve done a lot of great things as a council.
“A lot of my goals have been checked off that I had wanted to achieve as a councillor and as mayor. So in discussion with my wife Cheryl, who has been a huge supporter, I want to thank my family for their support over all the years.”
In chatting with media, Steve said he had been attempting to write down an official note of his intentions to not run again, but felt more comfortable with simply speaking publicly about it last week’s Lacombe council meeting.
“I probably started thinking about this back around January or February,” he said, adding that there was also a practical part to the decision, with looking ahead to and preparing for retirement. But of course, it’s also about family and being able to spend more time with the ones he loves and who have provided him with such outstanding support these past many years.
“There’s a lot of things – some of the things that I think of right now are getting that arena renovation done – that’s one of them. Back in my council days, one of the highlights was the LMC (Lacombe Memorial Centre). Getting the LMC completed in 2007 was a huge, huge thing,” he said reflectively.
“We are working together right now on getting the west area serviced – it’s been something that has been on the books – honestly – for about 20 years,” he added. “We are further along than we ever, ever have been.
“If I can get that completed prior to the end of this term, it’s a huge one.
“We’ve also been working for almost six years on the waste water line – I drove along it today and actually had a good time of reminiscing of the many meetings with different ministers and different governments – federal and provincial – and convincing them to work together on a project such as that,” he said.
“Being a part of regional partnerships – BOLT Transit was another one. When Greyhound discontinued service to the smaller centres, we said transit was an issue in 2004. Let’s make it an issue again. Let’s get a bus and make this happen. It’s something that came through, and it was a big win for us, too.”
He also noted the sense of cooperation and collaboration between the municipalities – Red Deer and Blackfalds, Sylvan Lake and Ponoka. “We all talk, we all work together, we all deal with the same things and that’s something that is a big plus to me – the networking and the sharing of information between regional municipalities. That’s something I won’t ever forget.”
According to the City of Lacombe web site, Steve has been a Lacombe resident for more than 20 years. He has also been described as a dedicated volunteer through church, Rotary, Youth Advisory, and as a volunteer firefighter.
He served as councillor for two terms before being elected mayor in October of 2010. He was re-elected in 2013.
