Watching a
municipal election unfold over a 28 day period in one of Alberta's cities is a
somewhat nerve-racking experience.
There are no
formal political parties and no well defined policy platforms setting out what
direction a local government is apt to take once the successful candidates are
elected.
Every member
of council has one vote and every member has an opinion or vision regarding the
way the City should be governed during her or his term in office.
25 people are vying for six councillor positions in the City of St.
Albert.
Three individuals with prior council experience are competing for the
mayor's chair. 21 or 75% of the 28 candidates will be unsuccessful while the
remaining 25%, one mayor and six councillors, will be elected to serve for a
four-year term.
Given the
circumstances, individuals running in such a competitive environment are
desperate to obtain some positive name recognition in the hopes the electorate
will remember their name when they enter the polling booth.
Ads in the
local paper, forums, brochures and lawn signs are the major advertising staple
of candidates struggling to win a seat on City council.
The sides of
the major arterial roads in the City of St. Albert are littered with hundreds
of signs, big and small festooned with a variety of colours and slogans.
"Vote-for-me"
is the single most coherent message directed at the voter by all of the
candidates.
Do the
messages and pictures signs printed on roadside signs have the same impact on
voters as tweets do in the social media?
It all depends on the voter.
My
suggestion is that If a name or message on a sign attracts your attention as
you drive by at 60 or 50K or as you sit in your vehicle locked in a traffic jam
please try to do some additional research before you vote.
Take the
time to access the Council candidates websites, read some brochures, talk to
your neighbours and read the last edition of the St. Albert Gazette before
voting day on Oct. 16.
There is an
extremely wide variation in the policies proposed by individuals running for
City Council. Some of these have far greater merit than others.
A number of
the candidates that are running in this election are affiliated directly or
indirectly with various groups lobbying for new recreational and cultural
facilities.
This is a
well trodden path that has lead to some electoral success in the past. however,
its not clear how successful candidates advocating the expenditure of tens of
millions of dollars on a number of new facilities will fare at the polls when
the Alberta economy is still struggling to work its way out of the recession
caused by the collapse of global oil prices.
An unusual
feature of the 2017 municipal election in St. Albert is that a number of
individuals running for council have direct or indirect links to the land
development industry.
The reason
for this interest in a council position is seemingly centered around the fact
St. Albert is in the process of negotiating the annexation of a large block of
new land from Sturgeon County as well as redoing its Municipal Development Plan
and Land Use Bylaw.
The new
council elected this October will be responsible for overseeing the approval of
the plans for the development of a higher density community that may be more
than double the current population of approximately 66, 000 people.
Individuals
interested in the diversity and type of roadway election signs permeating the City
can scan my face book photo album (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100017084341013&sk=photos.)
It consists of 12 signs errected by various
councillor campaigns.
Some of the
signs have photographic likenesses and slogans printed on them while others
only bear the name of the candidate.
Photos of the
25 councillors plus the three mayoralty candidates can be obtained from the
city's website. The city's database contains each candidates website and e-mail
address. (https://stalbert.ca/cosa/elections-census/candidates/).
I attended
both the Councillor and Mayoralty forums held at the Arden theater on Oct. 10
and 11 and the All Candidates "Meet and Greet" held at the St. Albert
Inn on Oct. 12.
I am glad I
took the time to do this additional election homework. Otherwise, I would have
missed identifying and meeting some excellent candidates that are definitely
worth considering before the Monday Oct. 16 vote.
I am still
going to stick with my 50-50 strategy for supporting 3 incumbent councillors
since I believe the new council needs to be able to get-up-to speed ASAP and
deal with reviewing and passing the 2018 City budget before the end of December
as well deal with a number of key organizational and planning matters and
reforms.
Getting a
new council up and running will be a much slower process if 6 or 5 out of 7
Council members are "newbies".
(All of the Mayoralty candidates have had prior Council experience.)
There is a
steep learning curve that every new member has to climb when they are first
elected to a municipal council and it helps immensely if there are some
experienced councillors available who can be counted on to provide a little
friendly low key, informal mentoring.
The problem with my 50-50 strategy is my research suggests there are
probably at least 5 or 6 additional candidates that are capable of doing an
excellent job if they were elected to City Council on Oct. 16 and there are
somewhere in the neighbourhood of another 3 or 4 candidates that look quite
promising.
Overall St. Albert can be proud
of the caliber of the people who are running for City Council in 2017.
It's going to be very interesting to see how St. Albert voters sort things out on Monday.
