With the Estevan city council election coming up this November and the final list of nominees being put on the ballot, one candidate is giving it his first shot.
Tom Mauss has been all over, drawing experience from his time in places in Canada, the United States, and Europe.
He's putting his name on the ballot to be a councillor because he wants to support the city.
"I think Estevan is a really good city and it's an interesting city to work in and to be in and to live here and I'd like to support it in any way I can."
Mauss says that he's finally being drawn into the world of politics as he's got more time to dedicate to the position.
"I've been interested in history and in politics for many years and I've never really had a chance to go at it at any level wherever I've lived. So now I'm here, I'm semi-retired, I have time and I'd like to get involved and bring in ideas that maybe they're good, maybe they're bad. Who knows?"
Mauss says that in order to bring the community together he'd listen to every demographic that's here.
"Estevan is very multifaceted. There's a lot, there's oil workers, there's coal workers, there's people from here, there's people from there. Everyone has a different opinion. It's a matter of listening, and it's not even a matter of throwing a solution at them. It's a matter of just listening sometimes and just saying, OK, yeah, I understand you have that, you have that. Let's see how we can address these situations."
As the new city council will have a couple of items coming up right away Mauss says that those would be his top issues.
"Right now the community, we've got obviously the revitalization on 4th Street, we've got the plebiscite coming up on the same as it said same day as Election Day about the ice hockey facility. There's obviously the other problems coming or situations coming from outside, speaking about coal mines or Boundary Dam. Those are the major ones and basically, the first issue that the new Council and mayor have to deal with is the coming up budget because that'll be their first job."
Mauss says that with his experience living in a number of countries he'd be able to bring a unique perspective taking from his experiences abroad.
"I've worked in many countries and I lived in Europe for almost 40 years, living in different countries, including a divided Germany at that time when I was there. There are so many different impressions and so many different walks of life and so many different ways to get to a solution and I think that's wrong to only look at one way of getting there."
"I think it's a matter of the dialogue, it's a matter of listening to people, and it's a matter of finding a solution that way around. Sometimes it's not even the solution per se. Sometimes it's just people want to have a dialogue just to know that they're heard. It's not necessarily just the solution."
"It's again listening to people. Wanting to be their voice. If someone has a small issue come to me, talk to me. Maybe we'll find a solution that way on a one-to-one basis. Maybe it'll go to Council and we'll bring it up in Council. It's a matter of again, I keep repeating that, listen and communicate and don't try and force your issues on another person."
If he ends up on the council Mauss says his first priority would be to sit in on the new budget for the council and add in what he can to the proceedings.
Overall he wants the community to be able to work together when it comes to issues.
"Work together, listen to one another, and work together that way and not against each other. If you have a different opinion, that's all fine and good. Everyone has allowed their opinion. Everyone has a different viewpoint. Listen to it and maybe there's a grain of truth in all of them."