(Submitted/Seth MacNaughton)

By Cam Lee

Melfort council candidate

MacNaughton brings experience to Melfort council election campaign

Nov 7, 2024 | 5:00 PM

A 14-year veteran of Melfort city council hopes to return to council chambers after the Nov. 13 election.

Seth MacNaughton told northeastNOW he originally didn’t intend to run for council in this election, but several people approached him months back to see if he would put his name forward.

Infrastructure has been a main topic of discussion for candidates in Melfort, and MacNaughton said he has a lot of feedback on the issue from residents.

“People are concerned about some of the maintenance, or from their perspective maybe, or perception, is a lack of maintenance or repair in some of our facilities,” said MacNaughton.

He said residents want to ensure that those facilities are maintained properly and correctly. Concerns about crumbling roads and aging water and sewer lines are country-wide and Melfort is no exception, said MacNaughton, and he is concerned about the long-term plan for these issues and what the city can, or will, do over the coming years.

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“What’s the budget implications and the cost that we should be considering in that time frame?”

He said the city needs to have their share of any cost-shared infrastructure project already on hand, or else they have to borrow the money, which adds to the price.

MacNaughton said the city needs to lobby higher levels of government to provide more policing personnel, and he wants Melfort to become a city where criminals don’t want to spend time.

Potential city policing of some kind should at least be up for discussion, said MacNaughton, to see if it would lead to more city control over what programs or projects to run to fight crime. He said a bike or walking patrol could be a potential solution to help stymie “backpack” criminals that commit theft or vandalism, as they would be able to go down trails or paths that a police vehicle could not.

The former councillor believes his experience helps because he is familiar with the inner workings of City Hall and interactions between council and administration. His time as a Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency (SAMA) regional manager has also given him knowledge about taxes and the importance of ensuring taxation is fair for everyone.

MacNaughton said it’s important to find inefficiencies to help save taxpayers money, and that could be something like extending the life of equipment or not immediately replacing city vehicles that are still in good shape.

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Cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @northeastNOW_SK