A Westlock County man who has not been shy about expressing his concerns with some of the decisions made by council will run for the vacant Division 5 councillor seat in a Sept. 17 byelection.
County councillors set the date of the byelection at their July 16 meeting in accordance with the Municipal Government Act, which obliges a municipality to hold a byelection within 90 days of a vacancy on council becoming available. Nominations will be announced Aug. 6.
David Woynorowski is the first resident to publicly put their name forward to replace Darrell Osmond who stepped down June 25 due to scheduling conflicts with his work.
Woynorowski has been engaged in a letter-writing campaign, many of which have appeared in the Westlock News, outlining his concerns over whether the municipality was efficiently and effectively spending tax dollars and whether it was being done in a transparent manner.
He was also behind a public Internet survey aimed at residents of the county earlier this year that asked for their opinions on how county council and administration conducted their business. The survey found that many of those who participated shared his concerns.
“They didn’t understand how their tax dollars were being spent, they thought there was a lot of business being done behind closed doors and they didn’t see the results nor the respect for the taxpayer money they expected,” said Woynorowski July 18, the day after dropping off his nomination papers.
Despite all that though, Woynorowski said he does not feel he has made a real difference and he hopes to be elected to council, even though he has said that was never his intention.
“I had questions and I wanted to inform myself about how the county was run, how it was spending its money, what results were being achieved and having them show us how effective and efficient in using our money,” Woynorowski said.
“I think it’s fair to say that my initial inquiries of council and administration were not well received. I was quoted what I considered to be ridiculous fees to access what I considered to be public information.”
One of Woynorowski’s concerns was the way council went about awarding the contract to operate the Tawatinaw Valley Ski Hill last year, but he is clear he is not “anti-Tawatinaw.”
“The issue I have with Tawatinaw is not the result, the decision was made and you can’t unwind that decision ... What I took issue with is (council’s) unwillingness to explain how they made that decision to go against the majority in the non-binding plebiscite. That question remains today. I still have not been able to access the business analysis and documentation, or the type of cost/benefit analysis that would show that they followed their own policy, which they didn’t,” said Woynorowski.
“If someone can show me any question I’ve asked, through the paper, or at public meetings, that they consider to be unfair or unreasonable, I’d like to have that discussion because I think I’ve been totally fair and reasonable.”
Woynorowski said he recognizes that he has probably ruffled a few feathers in pointing out his concerns, but feels he could work well with the current council “in a collaborative and cooperative manner to get the results I’ve talked about.”
“I will be a team player, but being a team player does not mean not speaking up for what is right and it doesn’t mean blindly following decisions you believe to be flawed or incorrect.”
He said he has received positive feedback from residents on his decision to run for council, but doesn’t expect to be acclaimed.
“I hope a lot of people run for council. The more people that engage and the more people that show interest and the more people that run for all the right reasons, I think it’s a great idea.”
