A municipal election this November 13th will have the people of Weyburn voting for City Council representatives.
Kellie Sidloski, a Land Manager in the oil and gas sector and a mother of three, plans to run for a seat.
"I've always had a passion for people, and community in general. It's neat to see the impact of local leadership on people's lives, so I'd like to be a voice for the community, listen to people's concerns and work hard towards addressing them. I believe a strong and vibrant community is built by working together, and I feel honoured to be a part of that," she shared.
Growing up in St. Albert, Alberta, and working for 15 years in the oil industry, Sidloski moved to Weyburn three years ago with her family. Her husband Troy is originally from Weyburn.
"I was lucky enough when we moved from Calgary to here, to be able to carry my profession with me, which is pretty special. It's a completely different perspective of it. Working downtown Calgary, you get small snippets and pieces of it. But here in Weyburn, you get a whole picture, and you're able to go into the field and see what's actually happening at ground zero."
While she has always loved politics, moving to Weyburn has inspired Sidloski to get involved in a community she describes as 'well-connected'.
"It's been the best thing that we could do. Weyburn has such a sense of community and is such a great place to raise the kids," she shared. "We were inner-city Calgary before and it's a much different feel. It really does take a village to raise children and you really get that support here in Weyburn."
Her love of how things work has kept Sidloski busy not only watching Weyburn City Council meetings online, but also attending in person and meeting with officials and community members.
"I've been meeting with all kinds of people, which has been very interesting, from people in healthcare, education, previous and current City Councillors, business owners. I'm really trying to get a good grasp of how people are feeling in the community and what they're looking for coming up and leading into the election," she explained.
"Everyone has been welcoming me with open arms and they're very supportive and engaging in any questions I have, and they've been really good at answering those."
Sidloski said she loves learning about people and enjoys 'digging into what makes people tick'.
"There are definitely commonalities between a lot of people, and there are things that people would love to see done or changed. Each individual person has their own things they care about, and it's been eye-opening learning what people care about and what the 'why' behind it."
She said she hopes that her being relatively new to Weyburn, and being a working mother of three children, she can bring a different perspective, "and can touch a demographic that might not always be that active or interested in what's going on in the city because they're busy in their day-to-day lives."
Engaging young families and learning what they hope to see in our community's future is at the top of mind for Sidloski, who noted she recognizes the balance of commitments a City Councillor requires, such as attending committee meetings.
She added she'd love to meet with anyone interested in sharing their perspective with her.
"I do have a Kellie4Council page on Facebook," she shared. "Leading into the election when things kind of start getting a little more intense, then I'll be sharing a lot more on there. But if they'd like to reach out, I would love to meet with them."