By MURRAY CRAWFORD
Advocate staff
Future Alberta municipal councils and school boards could see their terms expanded by one year.
Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths said he supports changing the current three-year terms to four years.
Speaking at the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association annual convention last week, he said he is supporting the move and aims to have it implemented in time for the next municipal election in October 2013.
Red Deer Mayor Morris Flewwelling said the lengthier terms could have a stabilizing influence on council. He pointed specifically to new councillors, who typically spend the first year of their term learning the ropes.
“Then you only have two years left in your term, so you practically have to run for two terms,” said Flewwelling.
“Whereas if you had four-year terms, you could use your first year to get your feet under you, do a three-year effective term and not ever run again.”
A voter, Vicki Stephenson, said the move sounded like a good idea as fewer elections could reduce the cost to municipalities.
“Anything that makes it less costly helps,” said Stephenson.
Running a civic election in Red Deer costs the city about $250,000.
The move would result in three elections every 12 years, as opposed to the current four every 12 years.
“Elections are expensive in time, money and energy,” said Flewwelling.
Although the shift to four years raises the issue of accountability to voters, Flewwelling, who has run in seven elections, said accountability isn’t determined by the length of the term.
“Accountability is determined by quality of candidate,” said Flewwelling.
“If you have somebody who is elected for a three-year term or a four-year term, I can’t see how accountability is going to be affected by that.
“If you have a weak councillor elected, you have him for a longer time.
“If you have a hotshot councillor, you have him for a longer time.”
A resolution passed by AUMA last year supported the shift to four-year terms.
Flewwelling said there was discussion about the longer terms at this year’s conference as well.
Red Deer city council unanimously approved a motion supporting the move at a meeting on July 9.
The move will also impact school boards, as trustees are elected at the same time as municipal councils.
Lawrence Lee, Red Deer Public School District chair, said the board supported the longer terms alongside the municipality as it made sense for them to be consistent with city council.
Lee said the board has discussed the longer terms for a few years and members see the change as a positive.
“There is consensus it would be a good thing,” said Lee. “I can remember when I was a starting trustee and three years, you were probably just getting acclimatized to the whole political landscape.”
Flewwelling also said it could change what kind of person decides to run for council because four-year terms are a larger commitment.
However, Lee said no matter the term, the decision to run is one people shouldn’t take lightly.
“If you’re going to go into that level of local governance you really have to make that commitment,” said Lee. “That commitment in the minds of trustees is three years is a long time. I believe the four-year term makes more sense.”
In order for the shift to four years to happen, the Alberta government has to put the changes to the Local Authorities Election Act forward about a year prior to the next scheduled municipal election date in October 2013.
If approved, Alberta would join Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec in having four-year municipal terms.
mcrawford@www.reddeeradvocate.com