After landing his spot on city council, Coun. Justin Vance never looked back and is working to improve Lloydminster, one issue at a time.
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For Vance, he says the move to council has been smooth.
“It’s such a great team to work with and the transition from working as a full-time blue-collar truck driver to now a city councillor. It’s been so smooth and the team has been awesome. Any information that I need has been there for me,” he said.
While he may have had some worries in the beginning about the synergy, it didn’t take long for council to hit their stride.
“I was worried about meeting new people and how we were going to work together. All the pieces put together so nicely, and it just seemed like the stars aligned,” explained Vance. “Everyone’s clicking right and we’re all working in the best interest of the city, and all want it to succeed.”
Not only has Vance had time to settle into his council schedule, but now he’s taking on greater responsibility as deputy mayor.
“The calendar filled up really, really quickly in March,” he said, noting April was not nearly as jam packed.
It’s given him the opportunity to attend new events and meet new people.
“I got to attend the ACAC men’s futsal championship,” said Vance.
Another highlight was his attendance of a recent basketball event.
“I also got to attend the Lloydminster Canadian Filipino basketball associations spring sportsfest. I got to go say a few words on behalf of the city as deputy mayor,” said Vance.
Vance says it may be a while until he decides to run for mayor, as he enjoys the diversity his current position gives him.
“I love council, and I love working with my hands still. It’s the best of both worlds. I’m able to go out in the field and do some consulting or driving a truck and then put on the shirt on a Monday morning and sit in on the council meeting. I just love that variance.”
One of the things that worried Vance when he took up his council seat was what the reception from the community would be like.
“I’ve heard for the most part pretty good things. That was another thing I was worried about,” said Vance, talking specifically about the response from the public he would get on the work council’s doing.
“We’ll get the odd pothole complaint and the odd sign complaint.”
He says whenever council hears about issues from the community, they pass it along to the proper officials to see it get fixed.
“I had a report of a snowbank really high blocking the way of a pedestrian crosswalk and it was quite a safety hazard. I got a report of that, and I shipped it off to council concerns. Within that afternoon it was dealt with, and the snowbank was shaved off,” said Vance.
When Vance first ran for council, he had three things in mind as items he wanted to tackle– the homeless situation in Lloyd, the overpass and the hospital.
“Those things aren’t forgotten, and they have stayed within my values and what I believe in,” he said.
“At SUMA (Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association), I did stop at the CN booth and put the old ring in his ear about an overpass in the city.”
The work is only just beginning for Vance and the rest of council. He has some clear goals in mind for moving the city forward.
“As long as we make these decisions and we stick to them and we act in the best interests of the city with all decisions and make sure we’re continuously moving the city forward and showing ourselves as an economic powerhouse and continuing to grow the city, that’s all our goals,” said Vance.
“We want the best for the city and continue to attract business, residents all kinds of economic diversity.”
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