Last week’s election forum for the Town of St. Paul showed that municipal politics - and engagement with local politics - is alive and well, with at least 300 people filling the Recreation Centre.
Perhaps driving some of the interest is the fact that there is a group of people who feel that wholesale change is needed on municipal councils. This past couple of years has seen many municipalities across Alberta face challenges and mistrust from residents, with people pushing for ministerial reviews of their towns, including here in St. Paul. Municipal Affairs even took the extraordinary step of removing members of Thorhild’s council in this past term. Elections are welcome as a way of giving people new choices and a chance to set the tone for the next four years ahead.
To help with that decision, the forum gave a good glimpse of what each candidate had to offer, with each having their own inner strengths, experience and values.
As people consider how they may vote in the upcoming election, it may help to remember that each member of council represents one voice, and one vote on each issue. Have a problem with main street snow removal? Note that a couple of councillors voiced that same problem and have called to revisit and update the policy. Have a problem that council agreed to spend $25,000 on bringing a hockey game to St. Paul? You may remember that one member of council was opposed to that decision and voted against it. There are countless other examples, but the point remains the same – no council is a single, one-minded entity.
Wholesale change may have appeal to some, but an entire slate of new candidates will mean years of experience lost and a much steeper learning curve for an entirely new council. Hopefully, elections bring new faces and ideas to the table, but we retain some of the knowledge and experience of veterans.
The St. Paul Journal will also be posting all the questions that were taken at the forum online, and will give candidates the chance to respond if they so choose as well.
