Ted Zuraksowski has resigned from city council after holding the Ward 8 seat for 18 years. (Submitted/Ted Zurakowski)

By Susan McNeil

City Hall

Ted Zurakowski resigns Ward 8 seat

Jan 18, 2023 | 3:00 PM

The voters in Prince Albert’s Ward 8 will be looking for a new representative on city council following the resignation of Ted Zurakowski. The City of Prince Albert announced Zurakowski’s resignation on Wednesday.

Zurakowski told paNOW that he learned a lot while sitting on council for the last 18 years, and the biggest thing was how to wait.

“I’m more patient. Democracy teaches patience because you have to work with people to get things done. You have to compromise to get things done, and over time, you want to make sure you get issues checked off that improve the lives of the residents,” he said.

From being gung ho and wanting to do things right away and having the attributes of a school gym teacher by day, Zurakowski learned that democracy is a slow rolling stone.

“For example, creating bylaws and changing bylaws takes a process of a year and a half,” he said. “Why does it take so long to deal with those pigeons? You have to change a bylaw and you need enforcement.”

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No longer does he plan for a quick trip to the grocery store to buy a jug of milk because he will spend 40 minutes talking to multiple residents about issues.

He also knows who does what at city hall.

“Knowing who to talk to at City Hall, that’s a big part of the job when a resident has an issue or a concern,” he said.

That means being a “conduit” between the resident and city hall to deal with what might seem like a small issue overall but is big to the resident.

A major accomplishment was the completion of the West Hill Flood Protection Program in 2012– one of his reasons for running in the first place.

“4^th Avenue used to flood. There used to be canoes, people in the middle of August and July trying to swim that and that no longer happens because we put that investment in the ground,” Zurakowski said.

The water now flows into a storm retention pond. Such work might seem mundane, but it is needed and consumes large amounts of time first from council and then also from staff before the job is done.

Other projects completed during Zurakowski’s tenure include; finishing the Rotary Trail, developing the West Hill master plan, the Marquis Road bypass, developing Cornerstone shopping area, the construction of the Alfred Jenkins Field House, West Hill neighbourhood watch program, paving many streets and the most recent project, the Yard Development which has a new pool and twin pad arena in its first year of construction.

The Zurakoski family is not moving, but Ted has taken a new job with the Saskatchewan Teacher’s Federation and will travel the highway between Prince Albert and Saskatoon almost daily.

He said the new position and the drive will not allow him to give the necessary time being a councillor requires.

His resignation is effective January 31 and he thanked his wife, Jamie, and children Samantha and Ben for their support.

City hall has six months to hold a by-election to fill the vacant seat.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com