Nomination Day

[ALLFARMER]

Mpnday is nomination day for the municipal elections. Good luck to all those Agri-Ville stalwarts that will be throwing their hats in the ring.
My guess is that there will be about a 40% turn over across the Province. Many long serving councillors have decided its time to retire, and some municipalities have had a lot of controversy, which usually indicates at least a few changes....

[cakadu]

Thank you emrald. Always up for new challenges and things not done before. Nothing ventured, nothing gained and I'm in full agreement with you. In some municipalities things are not as cohesive as they could be. Many are faced with some tough decisions over the next few years as well as new challenges.

A fresh perspective never hurt anything.

[cowman]

Well Linda, that was very diplomatic "Things are not as cohesive as they could be"! LOL!
The best thing that could happen in Red Deer County is if we get rid of those two troublemakers that now sit on council! Those two have pretty well screwed up just about everything they could! How do you stand on the elected Reeve thing?

[cowman]

WOW cowman, tell it like it is !!! Anyhow, give it your best shot cakadu, people don't want a lot of empty promises, just someone who knows what the major issues are and has some good old fashioned common sense. Are there candidates forums in your area ? How many people per division in your area ? Are you planning on getting to every residence ? Great places to get out and chat with folks are farm auctions and auction markets, if there are a significant number of farmers in your division.
Is your municipality holding a plebicite on the Elected Reeve issue ?
Good luck and keep us posted as the campaign unfolds !!!

[cakadu]

That's about all I use - common sense and logic - don't really go too much on emotion. There are about 1,800 in my division; there are 7 divisions in all, with the county having about 18,500 residents. Try really hard to never make promises I can't keep or have a reasonable chance of keeping.

I'm going to see about talking with a couple of groups about holding a forum - I think it will help a lot. Both auction marts near me are out of my division, but that could be one of the many stops I will be making over the next 3 weeks or so.

We will be having the reeve question on the ballot, with any changes to take effect in time for the election in 2007, or so that is the way the current council has put it.

My own feelings on the issue are that it is something that should be decided by the majority of the county residents no matter which way it goes. I can see both sides of the argument and there are valid arguments on both sides. I would like to get a little more information on what all the ramifications are before making a firm decision, because up to this point all I know about it is what has been written up in the local papers and the County news.

What do some of the rest of you have in your municipalities - an elected reeve or one that is elected from council members?
How do you feel about the way the reeve is chosen?

[cakadu]

Thanks very much for the encouragement and good wishes.

So far there are 2 others that have declared their intentions out here, so at least the voters will have a choice and that is never a bad thing.

[cakadu]

Our municipality is going to an elected Reeve this election. There has been a lot of turmoil and controversy in this municipality for the past term. The public petitioned Municipal Affairs to order an inquiry into the conduct of council and it was pretty damning to some members of council, the Reeve in particular. There are three running for Reeve.
Personally, I agree with a Reeve elected by the public, it takes the council politics out of the position, and hopefully allows members of council to get down to the business of decision making on issues vs having a popularity contest to choose the Reeve.
Your area of the Province is so diverse, with the rapid growth along the Hwy 2 corridor plus the agricultural industry and tourism.

[cowman]

Well I'm not convinced we need an elected reeve in Red Deer county. Seems like an awful lot of extra expense?
The people pushing this idea seem to be the rabble rousers, at least here?
Seems to me like we elect these people, at great expense, and we should hope they can use there judgement to elect a sensible down to earth Reeve?
Personally I think the Reeve we have in Red Deer County is doing a good job! Now mind you I know the man personally and I've always found him to be level headed and fiscally conservative! My kind of guy!

[cowman]

Cowman didn't your County have a shuffle of the Reeve position not too long ago ? Seems that I did hear some controversy surrounding that issue.

[cowman]

Oh we have lots of controversy in Red Deer county! Two acreage boys make it hot for all the old farmers on council!
The two acreage guys were big time members of the "ratepayers association"! This association basically came into being when a former CEO ripped the county for $3.5 million...and it turned out nobody was minding the store!
So the whole thing has come down to the new kids on the block against the old boys club, kind of thing. The old boys don't want an elected reeve...the new guys do.
There was a petition floating around to have an elected reeve in this upcoming election but the CEO disallowed it saying the people who signed it hadn't put in their legal land description or something! Both sides got the lawyers out and a judge sided with the CEO and the old boys club!
Feelings are pretty hot on this one to say the least and it should make for an interesting election! My own councillor gets in by acclimation, but then she should as she has done an excellent job.

[cowman]

I think I know the councillor you speak of, she has been there for a long time and seems to know all the issues from what I know of her. I think that the public often doesn't realize the value of having an experienced, honest municipal councillor, it is always great to have new faces too, but the hard working elected officials that know the county, know the issues and work their butts off are worth one heck of a lot to the over all growth of the community as a whole.
I am very interested in seeing if there are changes in the municipalities that have had a lot of controversy this past term.
It will be interesting to see how your vote for elected Reeve turns out.
Parkland County is going to an elected MAYOR this fall, Sturgeon went to one last time and I think at least one other is going that way this year. Usually, they are municipalities where there has been a real tug of war for the Reeve's position on council.

[cakadu]

Cowman, I think this time around all the divisions will have at least two candidates vying for the councillor position. That is a very good thing because at least people have choice and will hopefully vote based on what the candidate has to offer.

[cakadu]

It takes a lot of courage to put ones name on a ballot, particularly from candidates that take the position seriously. Even if a candidate doesn't win, they have the satisfaction of knowing they were willing to serve their community, and likely at the end of a campaign they will know a lot more about their municipality.