Pearl Lorentzen
Lakeside Leader

Kimberly Hughes has added her hat to the ring for Town of Slave Lake town council. The election is October 18.

Hughes (among other things) is the executive administrator of the Slave Lake and District Chamber of Commerce. She is the third person from the chamber to announce they are running for town council. The first was past president Francesca (Frankie) Giroux. The second is current president Josh Friesen.

Hughes sent The Leader a news release.

She’s a fourth-generation Slave Lake resident, says the news release. She is also co-owner of Distractions, an independent business in Slave Lake.

Hugies says her five years as executive director of the Chamber gives her “advanced insight.” She’s also a board member on Community Futures and the Slave Lake Regional Tourism Society. As Chamber manager, she co-founded the ‘Rock the Block’ block party as part of Riverboat Daze (this year called All In Slave Lake).

This is Hughes’ first bid for town council, says the news release. Her mother, Laura Vanderwell Ross, served on the Slave Lake town council from 2004-2010.

In the news release, Hughes says, “Growing up with a mother who was so strongly committed to this town, I’ve always felt that it was important to give back to my community. It’s the idea that if you see room for improvement, why hand that responsibility to someone else? Put in the effort to make the changes yourself and try to inspire others to be actively involved! It’s an attitude I hope to instill in my own daughter.”

The news release also lays out her platform.

It says, “Hughes feels there is room to improve Slave Lake’s local economy by providing greater empowerment to town-based businesses and through the creation of targeted tourism campaigns. Hughes also believes that by better engaging residents to participate in collaboration, overall quality of life within the town will directly improve, as well as increase the retention of skilled workers.”

Hughes also wants to increase volunteer opportunities.

In the news release, she says “There’s not a lot of social opportunities in our town, and that can be especially hard on new residents. A key problem for young professionals is that they struggle to meet others and therefore are unable to set down roots, preferring instead to move to areas that offer more arts and culture. I believe I have been able to identify these issues and see these connections because of my chamber work, and I’m looking forward to seeing how we might collaborate – as a council, and as a community, and as individual residents – to enhance this wonderful community that I am proud to call my home.”