Richard Marz stepped down as MLA for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills weeks before his mandate officially expired.Marz, 67, resigned the seat on Friday, March 16, ending his 15-year tenure as MLA.Though he could have stayed on until the day before polling, Marz said he felt it was time to go.“Once you make a decision to move on, you should get out of the way,” Marz said Thursday in an interview.His decision to leave office early was based on several factors, he said, listing prior commitments with neighbours to travel to the U.S. as the top item.On the political side, Marz said in 1997 he ran as a fiscal conservative under Ralph Klein “for a very special purpose – to slay the debt and deficit and get the economy back on track.” Despite the economy “taking a loop” under Klein's successor, he also supported Ed Stelmach.“Now we have a current premier that's running on a platform of change” and it makes more sense for PC candidate Darcy Davis to get the message out, he said.“Mr. Davis will do a very good job of articulating those things.” Marz said.“I think it's time to renew the mandate. I wish Mr. Davis the best. He's a very good candidate.”Another reason to leave early was to save the taxpayers the cost of keeping him in office after the writ is dropped and the legislature is dissolved.“There's been a lot of controversy about MLAs being paid for nothing. If I'm not going to be doing anything, I don't expect to be paid for it.”The recent decision to pull the Olds interchange project from Alberta Transportation's three-year project schedule was disappointing but “not a game-breaker,” he said.“I guess there was a change in ministers and with that comes a change in priorities. It's a disappointment for me and certainly a disappointment for all of us in the community and I've articulated it very strongly to the premier and the minister.”Marz said his parting message was to thank all the people who supported him with their public service and all the office staff who have worked on his behalf.“My parting shot to them is they've done a fantastic job and I appreciate all their efforts.”The Olds constituency office is staffed and funded by the legislative assembly and will continue to serve the public, referring inquiries to the respective minister's office.Asked if he would have been comfortable running as part of the Redford team, Marz demonstrated his trademark sense of humour.“You're breaking up,” he said after a pause. “I'm getting a kind of static on the line here.”After another pause, he laughed.“I'm leaving comfortable that I represented my constituents, no matter what the cost to me personally and if I was running again I'd continue to do that,” he said.Marz said he was comfortable the PCs will come out victorious in the election, “especially in our riding because I think we have an excellent candidate.”While the opposition might be louder than it was in past elections, “never, never, never underestimate the will of the silent majority,” he said.Meanwhile, after his trip south of the border this spring – first stop, the Black Hills – Marz said he has no plans to pull up roots.“It's my home. The whole constituency is my community,” he said.
