Curtis Paylor seeks re-election to M.L. council table

Meadow Lake’s longest current serving councillor is looking forward to the upcoming election and hopes his name and reputation will get him re-elected come Oct. 26.

Curtis Paylor’s campaign will have some signs, but he’s counting on his past history on council to help his bid for another term.

“I’m hoping my good reputation stands for itself going forward,” he said.

Paylor added he first became involved with council to do something outside of his full-time teaching job.

In the 10 years Paylor’s been on council, the city contributed roughly $13 million in water and sewer upgrades. Pair that with the recent paving of the West Service Rd. and planning for the long-term seniors care facility, Paylor said the time spent on council was rewarding.

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“Seeing so many things come to fruition with a limited skeleton budget, that’s the hard work of council, the city staff and the managers for running under tight budgets and allowing those dollars to come free to get so many good things done,” he said.

Over the years, Paylor saw and had a hand in Meadow Lake growing from town to city status.

“I’ve been impressed with the rate of growth in our community,” Paylor said. “We haven’t grown too fast but we’ve also been very progressive with a number of different things.”

He said when Meadow Lake became a city, the council of the day believed it would help forward economic development forward.

Paylor said he’s never given running for mayor a thought because of his regard for Gary Vidal.

“In that mayor’s chair you have to be able to free yourself during the day on occasion or come to city hall on a short term’s notice at times. With my job as a teacher, it’s almost impossible to be able to do that,” Paylor said. “The commitment of council is more than enough right now and I still think you could show good leadership within council and I’d like to think I’ve been a good resource for Gary and for past mayor’s to lean on if they needed direction, advice or input.”

Heavily active in the community with his wife Dawn, Paylor said the last 23 years served his family well.

Paylor said he enjoys giving back to the community and being on council is one way he felt he could do that. Through attending events and being involved in sports, clubs and volunteering, Paylor said he’s always talking with people and bringing their thoughts or concerns to the council table.

“It’s personally rewarding to be able to build your community and have the opportunity to serve the people,” he said.

If re-elected in the Oct. 26 election, Paylor said he wants to continue with ongoing council efforts – primarily completion of the long-term care facility.

Besides large projects, Paylor also wants to continue slowly fixing roads, repairing infrastructure and performing maintenance.

Voters have their choice between seven council candidates on Oct. 26. Joining Paylor on the ballot is Conrad Read, Kim Chiverton, Merlin Seymour, Glen Winkler, Tom Harrison and Richard Levesque.

“In the past, we’ve had anywhere from 12 to 15 people try to run and I think the number this time speaks to the impression people have of the current council and how well organized and how efficiently things are running,” Paylor said. 

Votes will be cast at the Meadow Lake Civic Centre.

Colton Swiderski is meadowlakeNOW’s municipal affairs, crime and court, health and education reporter. He can be reached at cswiderski@jpbg.ca or tweet him @coltonswiderski.