RIMBEY — Roughly 250 people out of a town of 2,600 crammed a community hall on Wednesday evening to hear candidates square off during a tightly-controlled election forum.
An ongoing controversy involving the current mayor and council’s expenses has clearly generated a high level of interest in this election, said Brian Restall, one of nine candidates running for the four spots available on council.
“Perhaps we can put the past behind us and get on to more important things,” said Restall, stating that his goals include bringing more transparency to council’s activities.
Controversy has been brewing since early September, when former councillor Dave Karroll resigned after council candidate Joe Anglin wrote and released a report outlining council expenses using data obtained through a Freedom and Information and Protection of Privacy request.
Anglin’s report stated that, during a period of just under five years, councillors had been reimbursed for more than $9,000 in political contributions to the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta, charged as fees to attend premier’s dinners and golf tournaments.
People in the crowd wasted no time in cutting to the heart of the matter.
Among the first to raise the issue was town resident Levi Blackmore, who asked the incumbents how they could justify taking money from his pocket to support the party of their choice.
Incumbent Mayor Dale Barr said attendance at functions played an essential role in giving Rimbey a competitive edge in seeking government grants for the various projects upon which it has embarked, including significant upgrades to water and wastewater systems.
Projects like that have been essential to ensure that Rimbey has the infrastructure in place to support growth over the next 20 years, said Barr.
The $9,000 mentioned in Anglin’s report netted $15 million in grants that Rimbey would not have received otherwise, he said.
While he and all four members of council, including Karroll, have paid that money back to the town, it’s still a grey issue according to the town’s legal council, said Barr.
“Nothing was done wrong. The big thing is, you spend some money in the right place, you’re going to bring it home,” he said.
While Anglin argued that there is no room for elected officials to contribute taxpayer’s money to political parties, mayoral candidates Sheldon Ibbotson and Rick Pankiw declined to comment on Blackmore’s question.
Both Ibbotson and Pankiw took issue with an apparent lack of transparency in council activities, stating that they would find ways to improve communications so people would have a better idea of the decisions council makes and the reasons behind them.
Anglin himself came under attack from an anonymous, written questioner, who asked about his plans to run for a seat in the legislature during the next provincial election.
Replying that he has not made any commitments, Anglin said he cannot predict the future and that all of his plans could change if he were to win the lottery on Friday.
Along with the three men running for mayor, Rimbey voters will select from nine people running for council, including Anglin, incumbent Wayne Clark, incumbent Dave Huff, Dianne Kushniryk, Gayle Rondeel, Restall, Paul Payson, incumbent Steve Schrader and Jack Webb.
All but Webb, who had a prior commitment, were on hand for Wednesday’s forum, hosted by the Rimbey Municipal Library.
bkossowan@www.reddeeradvocate.com