A political nerd with some common sense thrown in.
That's how local business owner Tom Christiansen describes himself as he is looking serve another term on Swift Current City Council.
"You do it because you love the community, and you want to help move it along," Christiansen said. "I think I still have a voice to offer and a reasonable point of view to make sure is at the table when it comes to needs and wants and where our debt level needs to be. Quite simply, I also just enjoy it. I'm kind of a political nerd."
Years as an owner at Decor Complete in Swift Current are part of the business experience he brings to local governance.
"I think mostly common sense and my ability to really pay attention to the debt level that the city needs to be at versus the needs that we have to have for a community to move forward," he said. "I've got a very long time in business locally. I've got some experience sitting on some major boards, including some publicly traded company boards. I think I bring a reasonable voice to the table, try to keep a broad view and take everything into account when I'm making a decision."
When Christiansen joined council in 2020 he was one of four people in a significant shift at the table.
"I thought this council actually did a tremendous job," he noted. "I think there's always when you when you first come into a new situation because we had a fairly big turnover, there was a little bit of trepidation amongst everyone to see how we were going to come together and work. I think we actually gelled very well as a as a council. We got a lot of things accomplished as a group. We managed to get our long-term debt load down about roughly $5 million. We had a couple of really nice wins, like the establishment of the inclusive, barrier free playground on the south side, which had been brought up before. I'm going to give Councillor Plewis all the credit for this. He had been talking about it previous to us joining Council and it never got traction for whatever reason. That this group came together and said, you know what, that is absolutely something this community needs, and we were able to make the decision and get it done. It's been a tremendous benefit to the community."
While he was focused on making sure debt levels were under control, there was one major investment Christiansen thought was in the long-term interest of the city.
"Probably the most important (highlight) financially was the acquiring of the electrical franchise from Sask Power in the area that encompasses out by the hospital," he noted. "We had to take on debt of around $14.8 million. Thankfully, the revenues out of that area will essentially pay the debt off on its own, so it's not an extra burden to the taxpayer. And then about 15 years from now, roughly when the debt is paid off on that particular thing, the revenue from the area will generate about $1 million back into our system that can obviously be used to help enhance our infrastructure or some of the needs or wants that we may have. That's probably one of the best decisions that we made."
There has been a lot of discussion about building a new recreational facility in the community. For Christiansen there are a couple of factors at play.
"The Aquatic Center is something that for the city on its own we likely would have a really, really tough time in trying to build," he said. "We've put forward into a grant opportunity with the federal government that can pay up to $25 million of an expected bill of around $50 million for a new Aquatic Center. As those things come available, we have to give it our best shot and try to do it. I understand there's many taxpayers who are upset that we would be taking on extra debt to do it, but you strike while the iron is hot when it comes to possibility of being able to get other government grants involved.
"We have an Aquatic Center that is unfortunately nearing the end of its life. We're hoping, obviously, to be able to nurse it through until we are able to get the funding to build new. We have to prepare to have that funding. We have the Southwest Facilities Foundation doing a tremendous job raising money as far as sponsorship money. They're doing a fabulous job and that obviously helps take a little bit of the burden off the taxpayer. We have to be prepared to make the ultimate decision when and if we get that grant money to figure out a way how we're going to fund the other half of it."
Christiansen is one of four current councillors seeking re-election for the six spots at the table, while Mayor Al Bridal has been acclaimed for another term. In total there are ten candidates for the council seats.