Liam Milaney wants Red Deer’s downtown to once again be an attractive destination spot, not a place to be avoided.
Milaney is running in the April 22 byelection to help bring in more businesses to fill Red Deer’s vacancies. He wants to focus on crime reduction and facilitating housing for the city’s destitute.
Over the last decade, he’s seen the homeless population quadruple due to the opioid and addictions crisis. He’s also noticed crime increase and many downtown buildings empty as oil service companies close or move away.
“We need to fill up these spaces and get the economy strong again” — with a focus on alternative and green energy, added Milaney. He suggested tax reductions and other incentives be considered to attract new businesses.
With an eye on crime prevention, he wants to encourage a consolidation of social service agencies into a more accessible and closely monitored area “for the safety of all.” Milaney realizes mental health and addiction problems are weighing heavily on the homeless population so he wants new housing models to be explored to help provide safe accommodation so many lives can be improved
He also wants to scrutinize the city’s budget for efficiencies. Milaney believes he has experience in this area through his contractor role for Mountain View Seniors’ Housing projects, as well as inspector of homes and commercial properties.
“I look at things from the ground up,” he explained. “I understand what it takes to improve efficiency and cost savings.”
Milaney also wants to champion the preservation of Red Deer’s history and culture. He feels the city missed the opportunity to save some of its most important history by demolished two downtown hotels. “For more than 100 years they… told a story of times past; they connected the present day to yesteryear in a way that cannot be re-created.”
Since last running for council in 2021, Milaney’s become a member of the Downtown Neighbourhood Alliance, which works with the Downtown Business Association to plan and attract crowds to the city’s core. The latest was a mid-March winter carnival at the former Central Middle School.
Milaney sees himself as falling somewhere in the middle of the political spectrum — which was also his impression of the late Coun. Michael Dawe, whose death led to this byelection. Before the provincial government brings municipal politics into municipal elections, Milaney believes more study of the potential impacts is needed.