Pair seeking Carberry council seat

Two candidates are running to join Carberry’s town council in a byelection later this month.

Lisa Dobbin-Waters and Micheal Hamilton are running to fill the vacant position in the March 17 byelection.

Hamilton, 47, said if elected, he wants the municipality to start a plan to draw more business to the town, conduct a feasibility study on building a roundabout on Main Street and better snow clearing because of the town’s older population.

Dobbin-Waters, 48, also said snow clearing was a priority for her because of the population’s age, along with other goals of creating better support and resources for youth, support for affordable child care and enhancing senior safety.

There are a lot of families that can’t afford typical programs for kids and teens, and that there needs to be more welcoming spaces for them, said Dobbin-Waters, a school bus driver and vice-chair of the Carberry & District Chamber of Commerce.

She said after originally moving to Brandon about 13 years ago from Ireland, and settling in Carberry two years after that, she and her family want to make the town their “forever home” and make it better in the process.

“I want to do anything that I can to make Carberry a better place for families to move to, and it has a lot going for it,” Dobbin-Waters said. “It’s very welcoming, Carberry rallies together when in times of need. So, I want to be a big part of that.”

While the next municipal general election will happen in late October, becoming a councillor now would allow her to be eased into the position while pushing for youth programming, she said.

Dobbin-Waters said she has hands on experience while working with local businesses and managing projects, including budgeting, which will help her serve as a councillor.

Both Dobbin-Waters and Hamilton have run in previous byelections in Carberry and lost.

Hamilton, who works in health and safety, said attracting more businesses to Carberry is important so people don’t always have to go to Brandon for things like clothing and footwear. That wouldn’t mean attracting a big box store, he said, but smaller businesses.

“I think that would be really beneficial,” Hamilton said. “You wouldn’t have to travel half an hour if you need to get a pair of shorts or a pair of flip-flops.

“I think that would attract people to Carberry as well, the more amenities that you have in your community, the more attractive your community becomes for other people to move into it.”

The study to potentially build a roundabout would be for the corner of Main Street and Fourth Avenue on the south side of town. Hamilton said a roundabout would increase the flow of traffic and would be a lot safer for people turning around on Main.

Hamilton said a lot of people turn around on the road illegally.

“I think it would make the flow of traffic a lot smoother (and) it would be a lot safer for people because they’re not second-guessing other drivers,” he said.

“It would be a lot safer for people who need to actually get turned around on Main Street.”

On election day, people can vote at the Carberry Drop-in Centre at 132 Main St. between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Advance voting for the byelection is on Saturday. People can vote at advanced polls at the Old Town Hall basement at 122 Main St. also between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

The byelection was triggered after Mike Sudak resigned in December. His last day was Jan. 1.

The town wasn’t required to hold a byelection as Sudak’s resignation came within a year of the next general election on Oct. 28, 2026. Council voted to hold a byelection to allow a winning candidate to get their feet wet and to prevent ties among remaining members.

» alambert@brandonsun.com