Justin Arendt is relatively new to the scene in Humboldt, but he feels he is ready to roll up his sleeves and help pitch in.

Arendt and his family moved from Regina just over one year ago, and he tells us why he put his name on the list for council candidates.

"I like to give back, I like to get involved and serve where I can. I have only been here for a short time, but I have lived in a few communities both big and small, and I have to say, Humboldt is a place I am very proud to call my new home," he explained. "The community has given so much back to me and my young family and so by running for council, that's my opportunity to try and return the favour."

There are six seats on council available, and Arendt will be one of 11 names for Humboldt voters to choose from during the voting period.

Arendt is Chief Operations Officer for the Horizon School Division, and he says their enrollment numbers continue to rise, and they look good for the future.

However, he notes that means preparing for the future as well.

"I work for one of the school divisions in the city, and one of the things we note is we have enrollment growth in our schools and that is a great problem to have," said Arendt. "Projected enrollment growth and those sorts of things means that people are planning to relocate to the city, or hopefully remain here and build families."

"I'm interested in working with council and our administration in terms of developing a proactive plan to ensure that we're prepared to retain and attract residents."

Among those plans, Arendt says community grant programs and continuing teamwork with other organizations is vital.

"I believe strongly in things like community partnerships, working with service organizations, other municipalities and local businesses," he added. "I think we really need to be able to go hard after dollars that are available at provincial and federal levels by way of infrastructure and community grant programs. I also think we need to be a big voice through organizations like SUMA."

Other names running for council include: Michael Behiel, Sandor Demeter, Larry Jorgenson, Owen Hopfner, Amanda Klitch, Francis Kunz, Roger Nordick, Lorne Pratchler, Terry Schatz and Sandy Weyland.


You can hear more from Arendt below.