Oliver hopes to lead R.M. of North Cypress-Langford
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- Published on Friday, October 17, 2014
By Eoin Devereux
The Neepawa Banner
To merely say that Ralph Oliver is familiar with the goings on in the R.M. of North Cypress would probably be a remarkable understatement. The man, who was born and raised in the region, has served in some capacity for at least 28 years.
He鈥檚 been on the R.M. council for 12 years, serving as Reeve for the past four. Prior to council, Oliver served on the Beautiful Plains School Division board as a trustee and before that on the local hospital board.
Oliver said all that experience has provided him with a pretty good idea of what鈥檚 important.
鈥淚鈥檝e been born and raised in the R.M. of North Cypress and it鈥檚 home to me,鈥� said Oliver. 鈥淚 have a pretty good feel for what the issues are and what people consider to be important, as well as the costs of operating and how you try to manage all of those things.鈥�
Oliver noted that over the last four years, the council in the R.M. of North Cypress has worked hard to ensure the costs to ratepayers have been kept in check.
鈥淚 think that they鈥檝e seen a pretty organized and well run council with a good emphasis on the cost of operations. It鈥檚 important to try and find efficiencies in the work that the municipal council does and the services that it delivers to the public,鈥� said Oliver. 鈥淥ne thing that we鈥檝e done is that we鈥檝e taken ownership of the hauling and managing of our recycling and garbage. We partnered with the Town of Carberry on that, and it鈥檚 worked out very well for us. It鈥檚 provided us with good service and has resulted in the cost of operations being lower than it was before. It鈥檚 created local employment as well, which is good for us.鈥�
With the emphasis now shifting towards the new and expanded R.M. of North Cypress-Langford, Oliver said the first year of council will be challenging but is also something he鈥檚 ready to meet head on.
鈥淔irst and foremost, we have to ensure that we are fully integrated and that everyone feels quite comfortable in the new municipality. That would be a priority. We need to make sure that our administrative services are in place and well organized so that we can provide financial services that people expect out of the office. And to make sure that we鈥檝e got our fully integrated accounting system as well. It鈥檚 going to require, certainly a couple of years to achieve that, but we鈥檝e gone a long way towards that already. We worked closely with [the R.M. of] Langford for the past year to do that.鈥� stressed Oliver. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a challenging job. It can be a rewarding job.
