Gibbon’s newest town councillor, Dale Yushchyshyn, is excited to make his mark on the community.
Yushchyshyn and his family have been in the community for 27 years and the idea of running for council didn’t get onto his radar until recently.
“It wasn’t front of mind when I heard that there was a by-election coming,” said Yushchyshyn. “Shortly after I had a couple of people approach me and say ‘you should consider it.'”
“When I stopped and thought about it…I received so much from this town that I realized that it was time to give it back. What better way to do that than be on the council and have the opportunity to have the community’s voice be heard through me.”
Since he was just elected on Tuesday (Sept. 13) there is going to be a period of learning for the new councillor, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t already thinking about ways to help the community.
“The first couple of meetings I have to get my feet wet and figure out where things are and how the process works,” said Yushchyshyn. “I know the town already has some plans as far as growth both commercially and residentially but that is the big thing I want to make sure is happening and happening sustainably.”
He is motivated to help families like his own establish roots in the community.
“My kids are grown but they both still live in Gibbons, the biggest problem they are having right now is that they want jobs as close as possible [to the community] because they aren’t fans of driving on the highway in the winter,” said Yushchyshyn. “There isn’t a lot of jobs available for them in Gibbons.”
Yushchyshyn is hoping that he can help the community grow at a steady and healthy pace to help live and work in Gibbons.
“If we could expand a little bit commercially that gives some opportunities for the community to have additional jobs,” said Yushchyshyn. “It could even potentially keep some of these younger kids and young adults in [Gibbons] as opposed to moving into the city or Fort Saskatchewan or wherever the jobs are.”
Yushchyshyn won the by-election with 37 per cent of the votes.