After 26 years at the council table, Ed Sands has decided not to run in the 2021 Okotoks election.
“I’ve been playing with it for a long time, 99 per cent decided this is the last one,” said Sands.
He joined Okotoks town council in 1995 alongside now-Mayor Bill Robertson, who announced in May he will not be seeking re-election.
Sands had served on the High River Hospital board for just over six years when he was convinced to run for Okotoks council, and he said some disfunction on the council team at the time helped motivate him to run.
“I thought, if I can’t be part of the solution, at least I won’t be part of the problem,” said Sands.
He was elected from a relatively small slate of candidates, and began his nearly three-decade tenure as a councillor.
“It’s certainly been interesting,” said Sands.
It’s rare for a councillor to be involved in two Municipal Development Plan reviews and creations, and two land-use bylaw reviews to accompany the MDP documents, he said.
Sands was part of council when the Legacy Plan was adopted in 1998, which dictated a finite growth model and planning around capping the population of Okotoks. He also witnessed the fall of the Legacy Plan and the decision to move into a continuous growth model in 2012, which then led to the development of a new MDP.
“I’ve truly been blessed to see a few things happen and witness some change, and be part of that change,” he said.
Over his 26 years with council, there have been many moments and accomplishments that stick out.
More than anything, Sands said he prides himself in having a calming effect on process.
“I don’t get angry, I don’t lash out,” he said. “During discussion, I like to think I was part of the team that moved forward and complemented ideas and brought a few ideas forward.”
Of note is the development of the Foothills Centennial Centre, a grassroots project that almost didn’t get off the ground without Town support.
When it came down to providing money to protect the asset and ensure it could build out, the vote on council was 4-3 in favour, with Sands being one of the affirmative voices.
Similarly, he was part of the group that helped push the renovation of the Okotoks United Church into RPAC.
“It was close to being slated for destruction and a brilliant piece of Okotoks history, and now it’s quite a functional performing arts centre,” said Sands.
One of his more controversial contributions to the town was the construction of treed medians down Elizabeth Street.
At the time they were installed, the Town had been replacing underground pipe and a few options were laid out for how the sidewalks and roads could be rebuilt. While looking at renderings, Sands suggested medians with trees that could be lit up would be a nice touch.
“It was the easiest sale I’ve ever done for any committee,” said Sands. “Everyone jumped on it. I know there are folks out there who hate me for tying my name to the thing, but I do think that median has certainly added character to the downtown.”
A few lessons have been learned along the way as well, the first of which is to never buy land backing onto a vacant lot.
“The biggest challenges, the biggest fights I think I’ve seen in my whole time on council is heartache when somebody’s view-scape is lost because somebody’s building behind them,” said Sands.
Another lesson is that communication is key, and clarification is a necessary part of the puzzle.
It’s easy for people to misinterpret what you say, no matter how words are intended, he said.
“Communication is a wonderfully complicated two-way stream,” said Sands. “You can say something that is obvious to you and somebody’s going to hear that and go, ‘What did you mean by that?’”
He said being a councillor has been a 26-year-long education, with new planning and environmental concepts being introduced along the way.
It also evokes a new way of thinking, where risk management is at the forefront.
“As a Town councillor, that’s what you find yourself thinking – what’s the liability?” said Sands. “That colours every decision that we do – why do you do it this way or why you don’t do it the other way – because you’ve got to consider the liability.”
Stepping away from the council table this fall, he said he’ll miss being in the know and being part of the decision-making process.
It’s more difficult to watch from afar, he said.
“That’s what I’ll miss – being part of making something happen,” said Sands, adding he intends to continue volunteering in the community with music, Dewdney Players, and a return to service clubs.
He said he has one hope for anyone intending to run for a seat at the council table in October: that they come in with a vision.
“That’s what I want to see – come with a vision for the community,” said Sands. “If you’re coming onto council with an axe to grind about a particular service, you’re going to be pretty bored for four years, because either you’ll accomplish your thing and you’ll be happy and bored, or you’ll not accomplish your pet project and you’ll be frustrated and bored.”
His advice to potential candidates is to ensure families are on-board, because the time commitment can be overwhelming for some people, and to be prepared for a lot of reading and researching.
It’s also important not to become too emotionally attached to any one project or decision, he said.
“Be able to take a position, be able to defend it, and be able to walk away from it,” said Sands. “A couple of times in my life I have had challenges with that.”
