Susan Flowers, veteran community advocate and recently retired manager of Cochrane Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) after 22 years, is humbled by the outpouring of support following her announcement last week to run for town council and excited to get her campaign underway.

“I do think I'm good at building consensus in a group … I've been thinking about running for council for a few months,” said Flowers, whose sights are set on social infrastructure such as transit/transportation; solving space issues for some of the town's organizations; advocating for a 24-hour urgent care centre; and economic development that aligns with sustainable environmental practices.

A big believer in “bringing the right people to the table” and motivating citizen engagement, Flowers has sat on a laundry list of boards, committees and community action groups to help get many initiatives and organizations off the ground – including Cochrane and Area Victim Services, Home Treasures and the former Cochrane Youth Centre (now the Boys and Girls Club of Cochrane and Area), among many others.

One of the markers of accomplishment from her years with FCSS was getting the HomeStead Building off the ground. This required grant dollars and partnerships with all levels of government and she said that she is proud to have been a successful player in the “complicated project.”

A rural resident since 1979 who has lived in town since 1992, Flowers said council can no longer delay the issue of transportation – something that was identified as a number one need the recent FCSS-conducted Cochrane Cares needs assessment.

“It's always been an issue for the people who we worked with (through FCSS),” she said, adding that getting seniors, youth, persons with disabilities and accessibility issues and those living in outlying communities into town is a must to make Cochrane a complete community.

“I think we need to start thinking differently and changing our perception of how we get around,” she said, adding that promoting bike lane usage is a step in this direction.

While buses and a strong delivery of a well-run local transit service would alleviate some of the traffic pressures, Flowers did emphasize that it's key to push the province to follow through with its 2019 promises to begin work on the intersection at highways 1A and 22, as well as the long overdue twinning of Highway 1A.

Priority for Flowers would be moving toward making the vision of an arts and cultural hub a reality – an opportunity she foresees viable on land owned by the town.

“I love the idea of a cultural hub at the old pool site – with the central location of it,” she said, explaining as a councillor she would look to facilitate partnerships with existing arts, community and social service groups in need of better spaces.

A round-the-clock urgent care centre is another defined priority for Flowers, who said, “It's advocacy that gets the ball rolling.” Flowers emphasized that she already has the experience of sitting on the committee that brought the Cochrane Community Health Centre to town in the first place.

Dark fibre – a privately-owned fibre optic utility network – is what Flowers would push for. She thinks that investing in this infrastructure will arm the town's economic development team to attract more businesses in the tech sector and encourage those businesses to settle here.

Tied into her vision for Cochrane's economic development are ensuring that the environment isn't sacrificed for the sake of development – caring for wetlands, the river and natural amenities to “keep Cochrane beautiful.”

Flowers is a mother of two and has one grandson. She currently lives in Glenbow.

She will be running a self-funded campaign and will be launching her Facebook page in the coming days. She can be reached at flowerssusan61@gmail.com.

Flowers will participate in the Cochrane Eagle and Lions Club all-candidates forum, to take place at the Cochrane Lions Event Centre (former curling club) on Sept. 26 from 5:30 to 9 p.m.