At least two people have indicated they want to be Souris Glenwood’s next mayor.

They are four term incumbent Darryl Jackson and local business owner Duane Davison.

It’s a contrast in municipal experience as Jackson was first elected to council in 1992 and was a councillor until 1998. He returned to the council table in the early 2000’s and has been mayor since 2005. However, Duane Davison has never run for municipal office until this year.

“I’m semi retired and we still have a business in Alberta and own the Pharmasave here in Souris. I just feel it’s time for a change and we could be doing more to make Souris Glenwood a better place to live. I feel the community isn’t going in a direction I envisioned when we moved back her three years ago from Alberta.”

Davison and his wife are both from Souris and he feels he could do more to make things better in the community.

For Darryl Jackson he’s seeking another term and is happy another name will be on the ballot and voters will have a choice. “Choice is the whole idea of democracy and people get to vote and the majority will vote for the winner. It brings out new ideas and it’s the same thing for council. Last time we only had five people register for six spots and we had to appoint a sixth councillor and now we have nine people registered to run for those six spots.”

Duane Davison feels the community is strong in the area of tourism but could do a better job in the business sector.

“There’s tons of opportunities for business growth because we’re right by the railroad, we’re 15 minutes off the Trans Canada Highway and I think there’s opportunities here that I’m not sure they’ve been taken care of” said Davison.

“I don’t want to be disparaging but perhaps it is time for a change and a little bit of a new direction and more positive attitude and transparency. Everyone needs to be onboard and ambassadors for our community and I don’t think that’s happening right now.”

Darryl Jackson feels council has done a good job over the past term especially working through the pandemic. “We plugged away at various infrastructure projects and we came out of it not too badly I don’t think.”

Moving forward a priority for Jackson is the community hall.

“The hall is starting to show its age and we’re starting to redo the kitchen and once that’s done the whole floor could be looked at and the walls need paint and so on. Infrastructure including streets, water and sewer all need work because they’re aging” said Darryl Jackson.

Voters head to the polls for municipal and school board elections on October 26th.