Town of St. Paul council has set the date for the byelection for Jan. 12. The deadline for nominations is Dec. 15. So far, one candidate has publicly announced candidacy, Roxanne Burgheim, as can be seen in an ad on page 9. In the coming weeks, we hope to see a few more names of people who would like to join council in the new year.
We hope to see a lively debate and campaign on the way to filling the vacant council seat. Council has faced several tough issues since the general election just over a year ago and a fresh perspective on council will be a welcome addition to the task of running the municipality.
Council continues to address operational concerns, with a response to Elections Alberta this week showing alleged illegal contributions of $3,775 made by the Town to the local PC association since 2005. The Town is not alone, with letters going out to other municipalities including the County of St. Paul.
A new voice on council has the opportunity to join the discussion, help shape policy and hopefully remind council of the duty owed to taxpayers.
The timing of the nomination day mid-December and the election shortly after the new year may not be opportune for a lengthy full-throttle campaign, but there is never a bad time to talk about the issues that matter to town residents. So we encourage candidate hopefuls to throw their hats in the ring.
