A longtime former municipal employee is looking to join Wood Buffalo council.

Ken Ball is one of 15 individuals who’ve officially put their name forward to try and become one of six Ward 1 Councillors.

He previously had worked with the RMWB for around 27 years.

Ball tells Mix News he wants to help administration once again, this time on the other side of the council horseshoe.

“I would like to help administration make the right decisions moving forward, there’s so many things that have taken place over the last 30 years and we’re still working on them.”

His main example was downtown revitalization, something that continues to be a main topic for many residents.

Moving forward, Ball also wants to see improvements done on a lot of the region’s infrastructure.

“Through my career, I’ve built most of the parks here in town and I’ve noticed that some of the parks are taking a bit of a tailspin, they’re going down in quality.”

Just like the current council, Ball notes the COVID-19 pandemic will take up a lot of their discussions – at least early on.

He stated he doesn’t know what the answer is, but believes more can be done to help those who’ve struggled over the past year and a half.

“I’m not a medical professional so I don’t know if there’s a cure all or what not, but we certainly need to get through it and move on.”

The election is scheduled for October 18, 2021.