Eight-year council veteran declares candidacy

A fourth sitting City of Steinbach councillor has declared his candidacy in the next municipal election.

Bill Hiebert, who is completing his second term on council, announced last week that he will put his name forward once again.

He joins Susan Penner, Jake Hiebert and Damian Penner as current councillors seeking re-election. Jac Siemens and Michael Zwaagstra will not be on the ballot. Also seeking council positions are Nicholas Goertzen, Mitesh Kumar, Greg Carlos, Ron Falk and Brad Unger.

Hiebert was born and raised in Steinbach, worked in the construction business and then spent 42 years in the automotive industry before retiring in 2023.

His ancestry in the community is traced back to 1874 when he said his great-great-great grandparents settled here.

“I have a passion for our community,” he said.

Eight years ago, he ran for council mainly because he wanted a part in shaping the future of what became the Southeast Event Centre (SEC).

Volunteering for the Steinbach Pistons, in addition to volunteer work with his church was always part of his priorities.

He said the SEC became a reality thanks to the strong business community.

“I want to give a lot of credit to the business community and specifically HyLife that made it happen,” he said.

He also originally campaigned on the need for more seniors’ housing, a goal that was realized with the completion of Rest Haven Care Home but is still a need today.

“It’s full and we need more,” he said.

In his tenure Steinbach has also welcomed head offices from HyLife and Penn-co Construction.

“We’ve seen tremendous growth in Steinbach and because of that tremendous growth our infrastructure needs growth as well,” he said.

Hiebert was one of many Steinbach residents who experienced flooding two years in a row thanks to fall rain events.

Improving the capacity to handle that has been a council priority and is one Hebert said must continue.

“We’re doing everything possible to try to improve that,” he said, noting they are changing the direction of some of the sewers and doubling up the capacity of the sewer line to the lagoon.

Policing and public safety are also priorities for Hiebert.

“We’ve done a lot to reduce the racing on Main Street, but we still are working on that,” he said.

Other initiatives such as the hiring of private security have also helped reduce theft at construction sites and other areas.

Hiebert said he made the announcement that he would run again after being sure he had support from those closest to him.

“I’ve got complete family support and I’m looking forward to serving the community for the next four years,” he said.

Hiebert said he wants to use his 43 years of experience in the business community and eight years as a city councillor to help council meet new challenges such as the construction of a new wastewater facility.

Hiebert and his wife have three adult children and seven grandchildren.