Dave Hildebrand is one of seven City of Morden Candidates running in the December 20th election, hoping to fill one of two empty councilor seats.
He was born in Morden.
"I went to school there, spent grade 5, 6 and 7 in Northern BC, Northern Alberta, Central Alberta. When we came home to Morden, it was home and I want to emphasize "home." My father broke farmland South of Morden behind a horse and a single plow, sod buster. Mother shoveled gravel into wagons for our first dam, back in the 30s."
His farming background made an impact on his life.
"I know the rewards of hard physical labour. Work related injuries forced me to quit the manual part of building, which I had really enjoyed. I was then required to hire subcontractors, and I also began developing land to ensure a cheaper supply of lots. I learned a lot about sewers, water, and road building. My peak here at 36 homes shows I can manage people and schedules."
With this experience, Hildebrand has his reasons for running for council.
"I know when things are built to last and I know when they are not, which brings me to the reason why I let my name stand for Morden Council. The City of Morden is involved in too many things. They make an octopus look like an amputee. We need to simplify operations. We need to be financially prudent in our operations and we need to be transparent in our operations."
He outlined his values and priorities in the upcoming by-election.
"Our local trades school is an awesome example of what the City of Morden can do to help people. We need to give people a hand up, not a handout. My priorities would be sewage, water supply, roads. We were once Canada's prettiest small towns. Let's make Morden great again."
Candidates confirmed to be running in Morden's by-election are:
Mayoral Candidates:
Nicholas Hoeppner
Nancy Penner
Councilor Candidates:
Chris Abrams
Megan Giesbrecht
Dave Hildebrand
Brenda Klassen
Tracey Krause
Allan Spearman
Darlene Wiebe
An All-Candidates Forum will be held December 4th at the Morden Activity Centre at 7pm.