Artist Tommy Fleger wants to “think globally, act locally” as he steps up for his second run for a seat on Chestermere City Council.
“My job as an artist is to challenge the status quo, inspire others and better the world,” he said, “being active and serving in my community is important to me.”
Since his first campaign in 2013, Fleger has continued to be active in the community and working to hone the skills needed to be an effective councilor.
“I have been learning governance by serving on community boards, working at the rec centre, listening to people, and reading books,” he said.
Fleger said that finding creative ways to slow or even reduce the ever-increasing cost of living in Chestermere will be one of his priorities if he is successful in his bid to be elected to city council.
“Cutting overhead and finding creative low-cost solutions to mitigate expenses is paramount for an artist,” said Fleger.
“It is these skills I want to bring to council,” he said.
Fleger, has lived on the lake in Chestermere with his pet pig Penny for the past 7 years.
In that time, Fleger has watched the breakneck pace of development in the city and hopes to help drive a slower more thoughtful agenda at city hall.
“As a member of council, I will work on a way to slow us down and check our heading.
“Expect me to bring topics such as ethics, cooperation, biodiversity and permaculture to the conversation,” he said.
As part of that slow down, Fleger would like to see a change to the pace and style of development in the City of Chestermere.
“I have yet to understand how raising a constituent’s household expenses through taxes and high utility bills in order to pay for infrastructure so that developers may flood the market making it difficult to sell one’s own home at top dollar is good for the people I want to represent,” he said of current development in Chestermere.
“I feel the plan to build more houses in order to attract businesses and diversify our tax base will still cost us a great deal more than we can hope to gain,” said Fleger.
Fleger invites anyone wanting to know more about him and his campaign to visit his website at www.tommyfleger.com.
He can be contacted at tommyfleger@gmail.com
