Lacombe city councillor Thalia Hibbs has announced that she will be running for the United Conservative Party nomination for the Lacombe-Ponoka riding.

She becomes the third person to contest the nomination, joining incumbent MLA Ron Orr and Ponoka County resident Rita Reich.

Hibbs’ political experience also includes seven years as a trustee for St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Schools.

She previously served on the Conservative Party of Canada’s Red Deer-Lacombe association board, as well as the local UCP board as a director.

The UCP’s founding convention last spring was when she decided to run.

“It just made me think that I have experience and I have that new energy. I have that modern outlook and I have all these things to bring and why not step forward,” Hibbs said.

“I’m definitely into communication and engagement and that’s definitely one of my strong points. I really believe strongly in the grassroots principle of the UCP. I think that ordinary people have a lot of wisdom and that they want to share that and I’m willing to listen.”

Hibbs, a first-term councillor elected last fall, said she will stay on council.

“It doesn’t change anything at council chambers. I’m still going to carry on as a city councillor. There’s no reason I shouldn’t,” she said. “I definitely feel like I can still honour the commitment I’ve made to constituents and until that changes I don’t see any reason to make any changes there.”

When it comes to policy, Hibbs said the government should be focused on issues that citizens care about.

“What they want to see is a focus on things like the economy, on healthcare, on crime,” she said. “Those are the issues we need to be talking about and let people decide personally where do they fall socially and not have the government mandating what we believe or value.”