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Andrew Kooman: If leadership is service, how do you intend to serve Red Deer if elected to council?
Cindy Jefferies: To best serve my community as a councilor, I believe I need to be accessible and in touch with my community; it is important to have many and varied relationships within the community and to always be listening. Obviously being informed on the issues from many perspectives is important. It is also critical to work well with others- my colleagues on council, city staff and members of the community. I think the best decisions are made when we have many people involved. From my perspective it is my job to bring others to the table to help create the vision – it is not all about my vision, but rather our collective vision.
AK: If leadership is vision, what’s yours for the city of Red Deer?
CJ: I want Red Deer to be a place that people, young and old and in between, want to be. I want us to have great places and spaces where people gather and enjoy life. Opportunity for interaction with others is critical. I want us to live with full respect for our natural environment. I want our community to be welcoming to and respectful of all. Having empathy for one another makes for a strong community. I want our citizens to be actively engaged and to take civic responsibility seriously. I want our community to be a caring community; we all have a role to play in one another’s health and safety.
AK: If leadership is listening, what are Red Deerians saying?
CJ: Red Deerians are saying a lot of things and that is part of the challenge – not everyone has the same concerns. Issues that I believe are top of mind are the need to take more action on the environmental front, including more recycling and reducing waste, protecting our water and air and providing alternatives to vehicular traffic. I have heard concerns about the social issues in our downtown and their overall impact on our downtown core. On the economic development front, people believe we need to be actively pursuing more businesses and housing to our downtown/ inner-city areas, as well, we need to take advantage of the opportunities in the Riverlands and Queen’s Industrial Park – working harder to attract business to Red Deer.
I have also heard some concern about the city being difficult to do business with. Some people are asking for a higher level of service on snow removal and recreation, others are asking for tax cuts. I have heard some concern about rising taxes and keeping housing affordable. A few people have told me they think we spend too much time studying things and not enough time doing things and that we hire too many consultants.
AK: Why are you perfectly suited, at this time, to represent Red Deer?
CJ: I am passionate about our city. I am a strong proponent of community development and creating opportunities for people to bring their very best to our community. I am open to hearing all ideas and welcome the opportunity to work with others. I don’t believe I have all the answers, but I believe I can contribute to finding the answers.
AK: What do you think are the greatest challenges for the city of Red Deer at this point in the city’s history?
CJ: The greatest challenge for the city at this point is trying to balance citizens expectations and available resources. Of every dollar our citizens pay in provincial, federal and municipal taxes only 8 cents is provided to the city. Municipalities do a lot with very little.
AK: What is your connection to the city? How did you end up here?
CJ: I first arrived in Red Deer in 1979 – the beginning of my grade 10 year – when my family moved from Edmonton. I graduated from L.T.C.H.S. in 1981 and then went off to the University of Calgary. My husband Dan and I met at a high school football game. We lived and worked in Calgary, after graduating from the U of C for several years. We returned to Red Deer in 1991, by choice, because we thought it would be a great community to raise a family and there were a lot of opportunities for community involvement. We also have lots of friends and extended family members here in Central Alberta.
AK:What do you do for fun?
CJ: We have three sons who compete in freestyle skiing. I love to go to competitions with them and the rest of the Central Alberta Freestyle Ski Club. I love photography and enjoy trying to capture their great skiing moments on camera. If I had some time to do just what I want to do I would probably travel, take pictures, read, go hiking or skiing, enjoy time at the Jefferies’ family cabin at Sylvan Lake. I also enjoy gardening and entertaining – good food, good wine and good friends.
AK:. What clubs, groups, or organizations are you a member of (or connected to) and why are you engaged with them?
CJ: I am currently on the board of Tools for Schools Africa. When I first heard about the work they do I could not stop talking about it. Everywhere I went I was engaging people in conversations about the circumstance of young girls in Ghana and what a difference the Tools for Schools Project was making. I really felt I needed to be involved it is one small way of trying to make the world a better place. I believe education is the key change agent in third world countries – one by one – we are making a difference.
I am also very active as a volunteer for the Central Alberta Freestyle Ski Club. We have been actively supporting this club in various ways over the last 6 years. It is a family effort! The Club has been busy building a new water ramp at the Three Mile Bend site over the course of the last two years.
AK: Who inspires you and who would you like to emulate?
CJ: Stephen Lewis inspires me. He is passionate and caring and working to help others understand global issues and he is causing many to take action. I admire his undying commitment to such difficult and draining work. I don’t think there is one person I would like to emulate, but rather a combination of different traits from different people that I would like to emulate….the list is long. Really I am who I am and I grow and change with exposure to life everyday.
AK: If you could accomplish 1 thing as a City Councilor, what would it be?
CJ: Wow that is a tough question. I think I would be very proud if I thought I had in anyway caused some action to be taken on the poverty front. I believe there are huge costs to our society and to our community as a result of people living in poverty. We need to take serious action on poverty; we are in for big trouble in the long run if we fail to address this. For me, the worst part of poverty is the lost opportunity and lost potential – in addition to the monetary costs. I believe our community is stronger when every citizen is given the opportunity to rise to their potential and contribute.
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For the How and Why of Andrew’s interview + links to interviews with Mayoral and other Red Deer City Council Candidates go here.
