Robert Pulyk Brings 15 Years Of Council Experience To Mayoral Bid

Mayoral Candidate Robert Pulyk

Editors note - to see the article please pick up a copy of the Vermilion Voice. Here is the full interview with responses verbatim

Interview Questions for RobertPulyk — Mayoral Candidate, Town of VermilionPrepared by Lorna Hamilton, Vermilion Voice

1.      Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your connection to Vermilion?

A highlight of my high school years was participating in the Air Cadet Program learning leadership, and personal development skills within the organization. I progressed the leadership levels from LAC to Warrant Officer as well as obtaining a Private Pilot’s License.

I graduated from the University of Guelph with a Degree in Agriculture, Major Dairy Science. My career took me to Ottawa then Toronto supervising Dairy Plant Production then Product Development and Quality Control for William Neilson’s Ltd. The home of the Jersey Milk Bar. My wife and I headed to Alberta for a new career opportunitywith the Government of Alberta-Alberta Agriculture in Grande Prairie to cover the region.  A bit of a culture shock not having subways or high rise buildings and very cold winters. We transferred to Wetaskiwin to cover Provincial Dairy Processing programs.

As a Professional Agrologist I supported regulatory and extension programs for the Dairy Processing and Dairy Production Industry. At the Provincial level I developed the Provincial Pasteurizer Testing and Extension Program. After taking the Banff Leadership Course for Public Servants I took to career leap to become the Branch Head for Regional Advisory Services in Vermilion. This senior manager position provided me the opportunity to work with a variety of producer agencies, committees and pursue a University of Alberta-Leadership Certificate for Public Service Managers.

My wife and I plus six children were very involved with the activities at their school and local church. I coached outdoor soccer, assisted with the concession and cooking duties. The both of us participated in the parish music ministry and I was chosen by the local Knights of Columbus to take the leadership role of Grand Knight for a few years.

With interest in Economic Development I became a member of the Town’s first Economic Development Committee that was located downtown. During my time on this committee I was approached by a Councillor to consider running for the 2010 election. The rest is history.

2.      What inspired you to run for Mayor at this time?

Thanks to this community I have served 15 years as a councillor. You have given me the opportunity to represent and advocate for our community participating on Provincial, Regional, and Local Committees from positions as Director, Vice-Chair and Committee member broadening my scope of Municipal responsibilities.

The encouragement I have received from my family, friends and residents has been my inspiration. Being retired I can support the Mayor’s role on a full time basis.

3.      How has your experience as a Town Councillor prepared you for this next step?

Gaining a solid rounded leadership experience as a director on  Provincial , Regional Boards, and the Ace Water Corporation has broaden my approach dealing with complex issues.  Taking the team approach with administration and council to developa strategic plan, municipal development plans, land use bylaws, overarching policies, procedural bylaws, as well as working with council on capital and operational budgets has prepared me to  take the next step with confidence.

4. What is your vision for Vermilion over the next four years?

Vermilion will enhance its current capacity to reach its economic growth potential without giving up is rural community identity. Council will develop a strategic plan that focusses on immediate and long term growth goals that benefits the community as a whole. Council will be successful with engaging, listening and responding to its residents and business community. Council will stay in its lane of responsibility and support administration with meeting the expectations of the strategic plan.

5. What leadership qualities do you bring to the role of Mayor?

Throughout my career as a public servant and as an elected official I have been open minded, engaged, results driven, accountable and have no issues with taking ownership for oversights.

I consider myself a realist that makes decisions based on facts, public consultation, working with multiple levels of governments and agencies to gather information in order to make an informed decision. The importance of following regulations, bylaws, the strategic plan and governance processes over-arches my approach to making decisions to ensure were transparent, focused on what benefits the entire community and not divert from what really needs to be done.

6. How do you plan to build trust and transparency between Town Council and the residents?

Council and Administration first priority is to support our residents and business community in aresponsible respectful manner. As a full time Mayor an effective responsive timely communication plan will be developed to address all concerns received. There will be planned meeting dates set to meet the public and business community to have open meaningful dialogue. Your opinions and concerns matter.

7. How do you plan to ensure transparency in decision-making and financial management?

The residents can attend the finance meetings via the internet or attend in person to hear the debates and financial information provided to council.  The public will have the ability to book appointments with myself and/or administration to review the financial information of interest to them. There queries/concerns will be directly addressed to ensure they have full understanding of the issue at hand.

8. Residents are concerned about potential tax increases tied to town improvements. What is your stance on balancing necessary investment with affordability for taxpayers?

It is very important to consider the taxation impact to our residents when planning for improvements to infrastructure, roads, etc. We need to leverage all funding received from the Province and Federal Govt and apply for all government grants available for town improvements. We need to use all assets available to ensure any improvement considered is balanced to affordability of our rate payers. I support re-allocating financial resources to support any project that requires additional funds to reduce the tax burden of our residents and businesses.

9. Do you support the idea of establishing dedicated reserve funds for critical infrastructure projects to avoid sudden tax spikes?

The Town currently budgets for Capital and Operations reserves for multiple areas. I support adjusting the amounts allocated for any  project. As well seek out specific government grants that supports the project.

10. How would you prioritize spending, and where do you believe the town can find efficiencies?

I consider the financial information presented to council as well as the views of each councillor to present my thoughts on specific program and services. Capital and Operational items that support the function of the municipality are a priority followed by Senior/Social Programs, then Economic Development Initiatives.

I support reviewing all programs and services annually for purpose and efficiency. Public input is important on the services provided. I will encourage council to consider improving the delivery efficiency of programs that don’t meet the resident’sexpectations example snow removal. Additional operational dollars from other departments will be considered where possible to improve a program.

11. The Vermilion airport runway is in urgent need of replacement, particularly because it serves medivac needs. What are your proposed solutions for addressing this high-cost infrastructure issue?

I am 100 percent behind the rebuild of the Vermilion airport runway, taxiway and apron. It is an economic driver supporting agriculture, business, health, recreation flying and tourism. There is potential to develop this area as an Airpark combining a Fixed Wing and Drone Flight Training School, Aircraft and Warehouse Distribution Business Area, Hangar Homes and Drone Support Area. The Aviation industry is changing with new technologies. We need to have a resilient airport that supports the current and future needs of aviation.

The immediate need is to leverage our financial capital reserves, debenture capacity and apply to the Ministry of Transports Community Airport Program Grant with hopes that the Provincial Government accepts our application to provide us with up to 75% funding. This process will require agreement from council. I will advocate for this approach and encourage administration to look at options in the event we were not successful with the application. This project is costly.

Depending on the approach the cost may vary. I recently unintentionally quoted an incorrect financial estimate for the repair to a few residents. The 2023 engineer report on the geotech study for the airport is available to the public.  I am looking forward to the application if supported by council  with a complete understanding of the final cost estimates.

12. Are you open to exploring out-of-the-box solutions such as public-private partnerships, grant funding, or regional collaboration to fund projects like the airport or other key infrastructure?

The Town of Vermilion and the Ministry of Transportation signed an agreement Feb 6, 1980 to transfer the administration, operation, and maintenance of the government’s airport to the town. Further we agreed to allow the complete use of the airport by the general aviation public. Our community by this agreement is committed to retain the airport.  Council has the ability to seek whatever out of the box solutions are available. I will encourage council to consider proposals that enahnces long term growth of the airport while minimizing the financial burden on our rate payers.

13. How will you advocate for provincial or federal support to help cover essential services in small towns like Vermilion?

I will be an engaged participant of the North East Alberta Alliance for Growth and Opportunities that involves all Mayor’s across our region. This is a recent formalized elected official organization dedicated to advocating for essential services for this area. As well I will actively network with two organizations that advocate for municipalities that being Alberta Municpalities and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. In addition I will work closely with our provincial and federal representatives, network with government officials and key departments that impact the services of our municipality.

14. What are your plans to attract new businesses or industries to Vermilion?

My focus for business retention and attraction is to actively reach out to our existing business community to listen, learn, and work through an agreed plan of action. Through the Economic Development Committee the local concerns will be addressed and solutions brought forward to Council to consider. Our website marketing will be constantly updated to support attracting site selectors and new business. We will continue our involvement with the Regional Economic Group known as Alberta Hub to assist the region with exploring innovative approaches to attract international, interprovincial and provincial businesses. Our involvement with participating in targeted trade conferences is important to market our community. Lastly our business community has an extensive supply chain to approach that may have interest in being closer to their market area and consider Vermilion.

15. How can the Town better support local businesses and encourage economic resilience?

Provide valuable business resource access to improve resiliency. There are a lot of experts from various agencies supporting business that are often not easily found. There may be potential to develop a dedicated virtual support network through our economic development department that consists of experts from Community Futures, Economic Developers of Alberta, Chamber of Commerce, Alberta Municipalities and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, and the Govt of Alberta.  This network could provide business with real time on-site support.

I am open to obtaining feedback from the business community on what is the best approach going forward.

16. What specific steps would you take to ensure youth, families, and seniors feel supported and included in Vermilion’s growth?

Many of the towns programs that support our families, youth and seniors receives limited  funding from the Provincial Govt. For example the Family Community and Social Services Committee manages the funds received from the Govt and the Town. Not all important projects go forward due to lack of funding. I will advocate for additional funds to this program.

I will support increased financial support for the Towns Senior Support Program and request feedback from the seniors to ensure the program meets their current and future needs.

17. How do you plan to ensure ongoing dialogue with residents throughout your term, not just during election season?

My availability to the public is not restricted due to other outside commitments. My office will be open for drop in visits, phone calls, planned bookings, and chats at the local coffee shop or shopping aisle. I intend to have regular public open mike sessions and be available for community groups to provide council updates.

18. How will you measure the success of your leadership if elected?

We leave our term knowing that the community supported the efforts of council and administration towards the success of the Town.

19. What sets you apart from other potential candidates in this race?

What sets me apart from the other candidates is my 15 years experience as an elected official. I have a deep understanding of how municipal government operates, the legislative responsibilities of elected officials and the requirements of the Municipal Government Act. Thanks to the residents of Vermilion for re-electing me over the years I have been appointed to the majority of committee assignments for council and actively participated with each committee. I have represented our community on two Provincial organizations: Alberta Municipalities selected my application to be a director on the Environment and Sustainability Committee for one year. The Provincial organization North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance accepted my application and elected me as director for a three year position. As well I served an elected term as Vice Chair of Alberta Hub, an economic development alliance representing municipalities in north eastern Alberta.  The board experience with these organizations provided valuable networks and information that was shared with council and administration.

20. What message would you like to share with Vermilion residents as they consider their vote.

Thank you to the residents of Vermilion for giving me the opportunity to represent you over the past 15 years as an elected official. It has been a very rewarding experience. With your vote I will be engaged, dedicated and focused on your expectations for our community.

It is important that you Vote Oct 20th

If you have any questions please contact me through my Facebook Page at Robert Pulyk For Vermilion Mayor-2025 or email electpulyk@gmail.com