Cullen chases third term on city council

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/05/2022 (1492 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Victoria Ward Coun. Barry Cullen is seeking a third term on Brandon City Council this fall, he announced Tuesday.

The 63-year-old owner of Keywest Photography said he has learned through his almost eight years on council that making progress takes time and there are some ongoing projects he’d like to see through.

“When you first get into this position, you’re thinking you’re just going to run in and change the world and all those kinds of things.”

However, new councillors quickly learn there are situations municipalities don’t have control over, and things they do have control over still take time to change.

Some of those ongoing projects include upgrades to the city’s water treatment plant, the new outdoor sports complex that will be built at the corner of First Street North and Veterans Way, and drainage upgrades in the city’s southeast.

“It’s been a long haul and lots of discussion,” Cullen said of the outdoor sports complex.

“It would be nice to be around when it finally happens. The new water treatment plant, same thing. It takes a long time. When you’re close to the $100-million range for those types of things, you’re not just doing it for the next three or four years — you’re doing this for the next 60 years, since that’s how long the old water treatment plant lasted.”

Among Cullen’s proudest achievements from his time in office is helping to get the Wheat City Golf Course upgraded and back on track after flooding threatened operations on a regular basis.

He’s also proud to have been a part of the process to implement a development charge system so that citizens aren’t on the hook financially when the city has to extend infrastructure to new developments.

For the WestVic Common development at the site of the former Zellers store, Cullen said he was glad council helped work out a tax-increment financing plan to assist the project in getting off the ground.

One thing shaking up the race in the Victoria ward this year is a new set of boundaries, which extends the lower border of the district further south. A new naming scheme will also see the district’s name change to Ward 3.

Though he hasn’t before represented the approximately 200 houses being added to the ward, Cullen believes the issues that affect them are the same issues facing the rest of the ward and that it would be an honour to represent them at the council table.

Cullen said he was encouraged by some people to run for the mayor’s chair, but ultimately decided against it.

“The time commitment is huge and you can never turn it off,” Cullen said. “As the mayor, if you go grocery shopping, I’m pretty sure you’re not just breezing in and breezing out — everybody knows you.”

There are some items on his personal agenda that likely wouldn’t be possible if he were mayor, such as travelling with his wife.

He wants to stay on council but intends on becoming semi-retired in his private life, transitioning to a new set of owners at his photography studio and winding down his work redesigning and reselling homes.

The only declared candidate in the mayoral race thus far is Coun. Jeff Fawcett (Assiniboine).

Cullen didn’t explicitly endorse Fawcett but said he was glad an experienced hand from council was making a run for mayor.

In the 2018 municipal election, overall voter turnout was approximately 17 per cent. Last year, when Meadows-Waverly residents chose a new councillor in a byelection, there were fewer than 100 total votes cast.

When it comes to improving voter turnout this time around, Cullen said he hopes Brandon residents will take stock of what is happening in other countries where democracy is at stake and appreciate the chance they have to participate in their own local democracy.

Councillors Sunday Frangi (Meadows-Waverly), Shaun Cameron (University) and Glen Parker (Riverview) have also announced their intentions to run for re-election to their current positions.

Election day is Oct. 26.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @ColinSlark