Jamie Hoover is not new to the Town of Blackfalds after serving as a town councillor prior to being elected as Mayor in the 2021 Municipal Election. The new Mayor of Blackfalds looks forward to completing some projects that began in the previous term as well as fostering even more growth in the town.

“I really have enjoyed my time as a councilor. With Mayor Poole stepping down, I just felt that it was important to have somebody that was already part of council just to have continuity and carry on some of the projects. The projects that council starts a lot of times take longer than four years to accomplish. I felt that it was important, but that I had the opportunity to see some of those things through,” said Mayor Hoover.  

The Mayor  is proud of how council was able to push several capital projects over the last four years including the renovations of the Blackfalds Multiplex, road expansions, and getting support for a new high school for the community. In his next term, he hopes to set his sights on improving community culture.  

“We’re looking at Improving some of the services that already exist youth programming and facilities is something that I think is important to our community culture. Certainly, something that we've identified is important to our community is seniors and affordable housing. We had some progress when it came to seniors housing. We set aside some land for that but we still haven't been able to get a commitment from the province to support us or not,” said Hoover.  

Additionally, Hoover feels that it will be important to address some of the division that has occurred in the town as a result of the pandemic.  

“COVID has been a huge challenge all over the world, but certainly in our community. We're a little bit divided when it comes to some of the restrictions are in place. I wanted to try and guide that process along where we can maybe close some of the divide in it,” explained the Mayor.  

Hoover says addressing that divide will likely start with Council. One of the elected council members, Amanda Valin opted not to assume her seat on council. A by-election will be held instead by Municipal Affairs. He hopes settling the divide on council will also help to settle the divide in the community as well.

Hoover has lived in Blackfalds for the past nine years and says the potential of the town has always been interesting to him. He has also loved being apart of a community that continues to see consistent growth.

“We have a lot of new things and exciting things. We have a young population. I just love youth and children so being in a community that has a higher than average number of children is really exciting for me,” said Hoover.

The Mayor added that some of his favourite memories of the town are during the holidays.

“I love Christmastime and Blackfalds having the Holiday Train come through our Winter Festival. I think that's one of the reasons I'm extremely excited that we are doing that outdoor gathering space (at the Eagle Builders Centre) because I think  those festivities are just going to get bigger and better,” said Hoover.

Overall, the Mayor is looking forward to see restrictions lift and life return to normal in the town. He also looks forward to seeing more growth and visitors enjoy the Town of Blackfalds.