Schafer Seeking to Power The City Into Better Times

Kirby Schafer knows a few things about how the city is powered having worked three decades at the municipal utilities division and he wants to use that experience to light the path for the future of Medicine Hat.

The born and raised Hatter said he is passionate about the community and wants to see it thrive.

“Being that I worked for the City of Medicine Hat, I think I bring a really good knowledge to council simply because I’ve worked in the bureaucracy, been through the good times and bad times,” said Schafer who retired in 2021.

But it’s what is going on at city hall these days which has him seeking a position as councillor.

“I’ve seen good people leave and things I’m just not happy with,” said Schafer.

Ensuring critical municipal infrastructure is taken care of should be the priority of city government. Only once that’s secured, the municipal can look at addressing other projects in the city and it should do so strategically.

“It’s got to be value added,” said Schafer regarding projects or initiatives outside of those connected with necessary infrastructure. “We can make this an affordable place to live again and bring money back into people’s pockets instead of increasing people’s taxes all the time and throwing money at whatever issue pops up, that’s the first (priority) we have to look at.”

Budgets need to be done in detail and to accommodate a range of fiscal possibilities. That’s how it was done when he worked at the city and, “if we were in a bad situation, we knew we could adapt. . .We can’t have budget amendments coming to council – as many as there has been in this last term and the one before.”

Budget amendments reflect a lack of planning, he said.

There needs to be a comprehensive review of the city positions.

“Since 2015, we’ve gone through a number of reorganizations. Areas have grown and, basically, I don’t see a value from it,” said Schafer.

He added the city shouldn’t need consultants to be part of such a review, stating there are plenty of reports which have been compiled over the years.

“And nothing was ever done from those reviews,” he said.

Once the city has itself in order, it will be far more attractive companies looking to invest in the community, said Schafer.

On the issue of transparency, he says if a constituent brings the issue up, “I’ve lost their trust. There needs to be trust at city hall.”

If elected, Schafer indicated he’d like to move past cliches like “industry leaders.”

“We need strategic thinkers is what we need. If you have strategic thinkers and they are working as a team, you’re not going to have issues pop up very often that you don’t know could’ve possibly popped up,” he said.

Having been in the mix for as long as he was working for the city, Schafer said he’d be able to coalesce a more cohesive mindset and, “making common sense decisions that better the community.”

Schafer is inviting any and all Hatters to ask his opinion about his vision for city hall.

“You ask me a question, I’m going to give you an honest answer,” he said. “You may not like that answer but I don’t sugar coat things.”