With the next municipal election just a year away, Central Alberta mayors have varying thoughts on whether they will seek re-election on Oct 16, 2017.
Red Deer Mayor Tara Veer said that right now her mind is on the current work of city council.
“I am focusing on governing. We’ve been given a four-year mandate and we still have a lot of work to do and the election is a long ways away.”
“At some point you make a declaration one way or the other, but really the focus of our council is, and needs to be, on fulfilling the mandate we’ve already been given.”
Veer previously served three terms as a Red Deer city councillor and is in her first term as mayor.
For the first time, municipal council terms were increased as of the 2013 election from three to four years.
Under the old three-year term, often a council’s first year is spent identifying priorities and building a team, the second year is highly productive, and in the third year the shift is toward an election, she said.
With the four-year term, council has gained a full year to fulfil a work plan, Veer said.
For the sake of the public, a person needs to identify their choice one way or the other in terms of candidacy but for now it’s imperative that council stays focused on its work plan, she said.
Sylvan Lake Mayor Sean McIntyre is in the same boat.
He said that council has so much work to do in the next year that he hasn’t thought a lot about whether he will run again.
McIntyre who served as a councillor for one term before running for mayor and winning in 2013, said
“We’ve got so much work over the next year, that’s where my focus is.”
Sylvan council is currently working on strategic planning and their budget, and “trying to keep a firm vision on our future and make sure that we are both planning and investing in a way that will benefit us both now and 30 years from now.”
McIntyre said the four-year term is great because council gets to see more projects through from start to finish and it benefits administration as well.
Blackfalds Mayor Melody Stol is in her third term as mayor.
“I’ve thought about it and I’ll be making my decision in the spring.” She previously served three terms as a councillor so at the end of the current term she will have been on council for 19 years.
“We’re working on lots of projects here in Blackfalds as always, and growing, and I do have to decide with my family what direction we’re going to take.”
“I really do enjoy being the mayor of Blackfalds. … and I hope the people see that I do have a strong commitment to our community.”
She said the four-year term has changed the decision-making process when it comes to seeking re-election.
“Four years is a long term, and you ask anyone they’ll say: ‘Four. It was kind of easy with three. Yeah I could do three more years but do I want to do four more years?’”
“You want to be able to give your best for all four years,” Stol said.
Red Deer County Mayor Jim Wood said he really likes the job.
“My time as mayor will be up to the folks that want to put me there, and as long as I’m hearing people want me to be here, I intend on running again.”
“I truly enjoy being the mayor of Red Deer County. I have probably one of the most interesting things to do that anyone ever could.”
Wood is in his second term as mayor and before that he served two terms as a councillor for a total of 12 years so far.
barr@www.reddeeradvocate.com