Photo Credit: John Lehners and Tammy Brown

By Shane Clausing

municipal election

Two more candidates enter into Grande Prairie City Council race

Aug 16, 2021 | 5:00 AM

Two more Grande Prairie residents have put their names forward for the October 18 municipal election.

Long-time Grande Prairie resident Tammy Brown and current Board Chair for the Grande Prairie Public School Division John Lehners announced last week they will run for a seat on Grande Prairie City Council.

Brown tells EverythingGP she’s lived in Grande Prairie for 27 years and that she is an active member in the community.

“I’ve taken part in the Canada Winter Games, from there I’ve worked in volunteer positions within the city. I’ve taken part in many boards and committees, particularly, I’ve been on the Grande Prairie Public Library Board,” said Brown.

“I’ve been a part of the Pursuit of Excellence for a number of years and I’ve just had a real blessing to be a part of so many things that have created a community here. I’m very proud of Grande Prairie.”

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If given the opportunity to sit on council, she says she’d like to focus on making sure the city’s infrastructure is being well used.

“Some of the issues I’d like to tackle is the awareness of all of our city infrastructure, to make sure they’re being used properly, that we have compassion for each other, and that the city is working together to become an efficient… city in the end.”

Brown mentioned she’ll begin to ramp up her campaign at the end of August. She says she’ll be knocking on lots of doors encouraging people to get out and vote.

Meantime, Lehners, who has served on the GPPSD board for nearly two decades, says he decided to put his name forward because he wants to help continue to grow the city.

“I’ve spent 20 years on the school board creating great citizens and I thought it’s time to maybe put my hat in and make a great city,” he said. “We already have a pretty prosperous, exciting and innovative town, and I thought I’d be able to help that out some more.”

If elected, he says he wants to try to help infrastructure projects and local businesses thrive.

“I’ve got a lot of experience in that area. I’ve spent 25 years working with developers and business owners trying to develop lands. I’ve got good relations with the County of Grande Prairie and know what it takes to drive business and create innovation.”

Lehners adds there are a couple of issues he’d like to investigate if he gets a seat on council.

“People are always worried about taxes and are we getting value? I’d like to either affirm that or cut that back and make sense of that,” he said.

“I’m (also) not a huge fan of photo radar and those kind of things. It’s got its place, but I think its stretched beyond its limits or what people find is fair and equitable, so I’d like to examine that .”

Lehners also mentioned he’ll begin to ramp up his campaign in September.

Brown and Lehner join a list of 12 candidates who intend to run for city council this fall, including:

• Ejibola Folashade Adetokunbo-Taiwo
• Ngemital Paul Rovin
• Michael Patrick O’Connor
• Solomon Okhifoh
• Grant Berg
• Neil Tuazon
• Dylan Bressey
• Kevin P. O’Toole
• Wendy Bosch
• Kevin McLean

Three people have also put their name forward for mayor, including Eunice Friesen, Jackie Clayton and Bryan Petryshyn.

Two candidates have also filed their papers for the office of Public School Board Trustee, including Joan Nellis and Andre Ouelette.

The next municipal election is set for Monday, October 18.