Former mayor believes planning and partnerships will drive Neepawa’s future.

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Published on Thursday, October 2, 2014

By Eoin Devereux

The Neepawa Banner

Bob Durston has watched the political landscape of Neepawa change dramatically since 2010. The former mayor, who once again wishes to represent the community, said after a four-year hiatus from the big chair, that this was the right time for him to step back onto the scene.

“We had a number of people asking if I was going to run and from that I sat down with my wife [Carolyn] and said ‘Okay, is this something we want to do?’ After a lot of discussion and looking at the pros and cons, we decided that there were a lot more pros to letting my name stand for the leadership of the community. So, that was a decision we came to because we want to contribute further to our community,” said Durston.

Durston enters the race as a very familiar name to local voters. He has 29 years experience in municipal politics, 21 as a councilor in Neepawa and eight as mayor, from 2002-2010. During that time, Durston was involved in numerous town projects including the organization of the planning district committee and the completion of Country Meadows personal care home. Durston said, that wide array of experience will be an asset when it comes to understanding the dynamics of working with council and community groups to get things done.

“I really want to be able to work with our council that has already been acclaimed. They’re already set in place, so as mayor you’ve got to start off with pulling council together. Agreeing on the various roles of individual councilors. What roles they’re going to take and where they see the community going in the next four years,” said Durston. “Over the years, our councils have been very open to working with people and we want to continue to work with people who are a part of our community or want to come to our community.”

As for the important issues of the campaign, Durston noted that a new hospital and regional economic development continue to be topics on a lot of people’s minds.

“The new hospital continues to be an issue of great interest for many people, both in and surrounding our community. We really need to start moving this forward. Being the largest community in our region, we need to be leading the negotiations,” said Durston.

“After the election, I’m going to put forward discussion on infrastructure, the relationship with surrounding municipalities, a local hospital. Those are the big issues out there. Economic development, housing,” said Durston. “It requires us to spend some time doing some strategic planning. Look at the strategic plans that have been done in the past and say ‘Okay. Now what needs to be updated? What needs to be dropped and what needs to be added.’ And then take that to the community and say ‘This is our plan and this is where we’re moving forward.’”