A resident of the RM of Ste. Anne says now that his kids are grown up and his workload has lightened up, he now has time to serve his municipality.

Robert Desautels, who is also on the Richer Fire Department, explains his platform is transparency and accountability. He feels each councillor should report back to their ward tri-annually with a summary of their accomplishments for that period of time.

One other priority Desautels has is refining the permit process. He says right now, it's just too backed up. "Councillors are having to do too much with it," says Desautels, "the office is being flooded with all kinds of things that I feel are really unnecessary to be dealing with in regards to permits for mini-structures and moveable structures. That just swamps the office with things that are really not required."

Desautels says he would also like to establish a sports and recreations budget for the RM of Ste. Anne and make improvements to the parks in the municipality.

He adds social and economic development is top of mind as well. "I believe that the RM of Ste. Anne is running out of residential properties. I believe that re-zoning should be a key thing to happen."

Desautels acknowledges the strong agricultural base in the municipality and says a lot of that land is unfortunately wetlands. He notes he would like to make an attempt to improve drainage and ditching in those areas as well as create a waste disposal system.

Desautels is running against Paul Saindon, Shirley Hiebert and Don Morin.