A long-tenured Swift Current city councillor is seeking a fifth four-year term that would etch his name in the history books.
Ryan Plewis, who's been on city council since 2009, announced he'll be vying for one of the six councillor seats during the November 13 municipal election on Wednesday evening.
The partner at Plewis Automotive Group and lawyer with Anderson & Company said serving on city council offers him a unique personal feeling.
"For me, it's gratifying and rewarding to be involved in the community and help guide where things are going," he said. "I enjoy the people I work with on council and the administrative team. I enjoy engaging with residents."
Plewis is hoping if he's re-elected, they can focus on new recreational facilities while also drawing in new businesses and industries into Swift Current.
Recently, he was one of the councillors who were vocal and supportive of the City applying for grant funding from the federal government to build an aquatic centre. He knows the City needs a grant to have a chance at building it, but he's also hoping surrounding towns and RMs can come to the table financially too.
"Things that we can do are encouraging the still pretty new Southwest Facility Foundation, being squarely behind them in our messaging that this is something we want to see as a city," he said. "I think we need to have some serious conversations inside the community about how we're going to come up with funding our portion of things. I do like the idea of starting to put a little bit of money away."
A levy like the City used to fund its portion of the Cypress Regional Hospital or the Meadows is something Plewis could see working.
Reducing debt was one of the main election platforms that many of the current councillors ran on in 2020. Plewis would like the City to continue reducing the red ink they're in but said that can't trump everything.
"When we have an opportunity like increasing the City's franchise area with our Light & Power Utility, there's a business case for doing that," he said. "Yes there is some debt attached to that but that's very different than taking debt for buying three-quarter-ton trucks and graders."
His position on tax increases for residents and business owners has been consistent over the years, small.
"If the inflation rate is three per cent, I think it's reasonable to think that the City's revenues need to go up by about that amount as well to continue doing the things we're doing every year," he said.
If Plewis is re-elected and fulfills his four-year term, he'll become the longest consecutive serving member of Swift Current city council passing Paul Elder who registered 18 years from 1985 to 2003. Dr. William Field holds the longest tenure on city council serving on and off from 1904 until 1938, spending 19 years as a councillor and one year as a mayor.
"Setting records isn't something that's in my playbook," he said. "I'm happy to continue to serve if people will have me."