OLDS — Former Town of Olds councillor Mary Anne Overwater is running for a seat on council again, although she’s not sure yet if she’ll run for councillor or mayor.
If she is elected during the Oct. 20 municipal election, Overwater would be serving her third term.
Overwater served two straight terms on Olds council; 2013-2017 and 2017-2021. She ran for a third term in the 2021 election, but was not elected.
Originally from northern Alberta, Overwater has lived in Olds for 33 years. She retired several years ago after careers in banking and special needs education.
“I've had four years to think about it, and I was thinking I still have a voice for the community and thought, ‘well, why not put my name forward again,’” she said during an interview with the Albertan.
Overwater said she’s thinking about whether she’ll run for mayor or councillor.
“I'm not sure, but I will be putting my name forward for one of those positions, and, yeah, hopefully the community will support me,” she said, adding she expects to make a final decision on which post she’ll run for in August.
“I feel I had a strong voice and was prepared to voice my opinion as to what I thought was the right thing for our community, and hopefully I can do that again,” she said.
“I want to bring the people's opinions forth and hopefully we can grow our community. I just feel that I've got lots to contribute.
“I just I like it. I miss it. I miss being a part of the decisions that are made, the town growing in a responsible way. Hopefully the citizens will put me back in in council to help with making those decisions.”
Overwater agreed being a municipal councillor is a very public position and councillors can get flak from all sides on various issues.
Last time she was on council she got an earful from some members of the public, who, she said, mistakenly thought she was not in favour of backyard hockey rinks.
“I hope the community will put me back on council,” Overwater said.
“I think I've always been a strong voice for when people have brought issues to me, I've always brought them forward to council. And you know, hopefully I can continue to do that and get them the answers that they want. They might not like the answers, but at least I'll get them some answers.”
