Westlock County residents in Division 6 will have a new councillor following the Oct. 21 election after Coun. Mike Cook announced his retirement from politics last week.
Cook made the announcement at the end of the July 11 county council meeting.
“I did my nine years and I think it’s time to move on and let somebody else take over,” he said last Friday.
Since being elected to county council in the 2004 election, Cook said he’s proud of the things he’s managed to accomplish around the council table, including getting Highway 801 paved and putting the county on stable financial footing.
“If you look at the big picture, I think the county runs quite well,” he said. “You’re never going to have everything perfect, but when you look at the big picture it’s done pretty well.”
One of the factors that played into Cook’s decision to step aside is the fact municipal term lengths are now four years instead of the three they used to be.
“I’ll be getting pretty old by the time four years are up,” he said.
Plus, nine years on council is enough time, and it’s time for the council to welcome some new blood, he added.
“Getting new blood into the organization is usually a positive thing,” Cook said. “Having people sit there year after year, you don’t keep as quite an open mind.”
County reeve Charles Navratil has served alongside Cook for the last nine years, and said the county is going to miss Cook when he’s gone.
“We’re losing a good councillor,” Navratil said. “We’re losing a dedicated councillor. I would have liked to see Mike take another term, but that’s a decision he makes.”
Although the two of them did not always see eye-to-eye over the last nine years, Navratil said he had nothing negative about the work Cook did during his time as councillor.
“He was a very good councillor to work with,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll get a man as good to replace him.”
Cook put in a lot of work in his nine years as a councillor, Navratil said, a fact the new councillor will have to remember.
“There’s more work to it than some people think, so if you are a good councillor and you are involved, it is time consuming,” he said.
Cook explained he made his intentions known when he did in order to get the news out there and prompt interested people to start thinking about following in his footsteps.
“I want to give people time to think about running, and not have it be a last-minute decision for somebody else who wants to take on the job,” he said.
Cook’s nine years on council may not have been the most smooth, but they were enjoyable and he appreciates the support he received over the years.
“I would really like to thank the people of Westlock and the ratepayers, especially in Division 6, for all of the support over the nine years,” Cook said. “It’s been a pleasure to serve them.”
