The Hanover Councillor for the Mitchell area says he has really enjoyed his first term on council and Brian Esau is ready for more. Esau has announced his intentions to run for the Ward Two seat.
The Mitchell resident was elected to Hanover Council back in May of 2020. A by-election was called that spring after the passing of longtime Councillor Bernie Stahn.
"It's been a learning curve," admits Esau, who spent nearly a decade on the Local Urban District (LUD) committee of Mitchell before making the jump to councillor. "As an LUD you see the smaller picture and then when you get into councillor you see a broader picture of how the RM works. You get to meet a lot more people and you get to see the difference that you can make inside a community."
Though he has only been on council less than two and a half years, Esau says he feels he has already made a difference. He notes a highlight of his first term includes seeing the Mitchell and Area Seniors Centre change ownership, becoming municipal owned.
"All the renovations we did, it just gives seniors so much more, where they can enjoy the building without having to be responsible for any of the upkeep," adds Esau. "And this is their golden years, this is when they get to enjoy it."
He notes other highlights include extending a bunch of walking paths down Reichenbach Road and developing the Rosenthal Nature Park pathway. In conjunction with the LUD of Mitchell, Esau has also helped develop sidewalks and resurface additional streets.
If re-elected on October 26th, Esau says he is committed to continuing with recreational development in Ward Two, adding more street lighting on some of the older streets in Mitchell and creating more walking paths.
Esau says when he first started to contemplate running for a second term, he was encouraged to do so by family, friends and many residents of Mitchell.
"They said I had done a good job in the first term and they really encouraged me to run," he notes. "And I felt that I had a lot more to offer yet."
Esau says if re-elected, he looks forward to continue working with the people of Mitchell, the RM of Hanover Council and administration.