Jason Meldrum has declared he plans to run for a council seat in Elkford this October.
A resident of Elkford for the last 11 years, Meldrum currently works as the service manager at Legacy Ford, and previously spent eight years with Mountain Mechanical.
Over the last two years Meldrum has been instrumental in getting the campaign for a new community bike park off the ground as founder of the Elkford Biking Club back in 2020, which he said had given him a taste for public service.
“It was everything from fundraising and asking for equipment, I sat in on a fair amount of council meetings and got a new appreciation for the inner workings of the government side of things.”
Meldrum said that if he were elected a councillor, he wanted to help bridge any gaps between the public and the municipality.
“I’ll still be able to serve the public. It’s one thing I really enjoy, listening to people’s concerns and helping bring them to the table.”
Meldrum said he wanted to play a part in updating bylaws so they better suit the Elkford of today and help develop the community while maintaining its roots in history.
“I do want to see some economic diversity in the town,” he said.
“I don’t want to turn us into the next Fernie or Banff or anything, but I really think now is a good era to explore other avenues and be more diverse. We’ve got world-class fishing, there’s endless opportunities for hiking and biking, and yearly we’ve got people coming through doing the Tour Divide (bike race). Wouldn’t focus 110 percent on tourism, but I’d like to see diversity in all aspects of the town with ideas that would benefit everybody.”
He said anyone could approach him, and he wanted to be an open mind on council.
“I think I’ve proven my worth with the bike park. It was a project that had been tried a few times before – I took it on and stuck with it, and we’re mere weeks away from getting it done.
“I thoroughly enjoy the public, talking to people, hearing people and helping people – it’s why I’ve been in customer service for 23 years.”
READ MORE: Editor’s note: Calling all local candidates
scott.tibballs@thefreepress.ca
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