Why run for council?

[Mark Miller]

With council elections coming up for our summer village, I wanted to share some ideas on why I think people should run for council (and why I originally decided to run for council).

1. Make a difference in the community
   The summer village council is elected to represent the residents of the summer village, this is your opportunity (and responsibility) to find out what the priorities of the community are and work to advance these ideas. This includes every day issues (where to put speed bumps, what can we do for dust control, what color do we paint the new posts, etc) to more strategic initiatives – putting in a new boat launch, road improvements, do we want a community hall, and so on.
2. You want to meet your neighbours
   In the first year of being on council, I think that I met more people in our summer village than the previous 7 years that we have been out here. I have many new friends from my time on council.
3. Civic duty
   There are many aspects to a “healthy life”, and I believe that civic duty is one. Many people fill this by volunteering to help with local events, planning and working on improvements in our community (thanks to Garry and crew for the ball diamond improvements!), and representing the community on municipal issues (the support that our community provided in pushing back on the Masse development was incredible). Participating on council is extremely fulfilling and clearly fills this niche.
4. Learning opportunity
   Do you know what to do in the event of an emergency? Just as one example council is currently working on a Regional Emergency Management plan in coordination with surrounding communities to understand what is involved in emergency services, help define a plan for what to do in the event of an emergency, and ensure that we are prepared if we have an emergency (SOLE – State Of Local Emergency). This is a great opportunity to learn about topics like this. You will also gain an understanding of how government works, how other municipalities deal with their issues, and how to deal with issues that arise in our community.
5. We need a council to exist as a summer village
   If we do not get the required number of people volunteering for council (3), our summer village will dissolve as a municipality and we will become part of the county. This is a reality – if we do not have at least 3 people nominated for council on nomination day, we then have 6 days to get the required nominations. If we are not successful, we will cease to exist as a summer village and pass governing control of our community to the Lac Ste Anne County council.

Some questions that I have heard from people that are interested in running for council, but have concerns:

1. I don’t know anything about politics / being a counsellor
   In addition to the 3 members of council, there is a Chief Administrative Officer that guides and assists council and we have an absolutely fantastic CAO (Dwight Moskalyk). Dwight is very good at educating us on what we need to know and more importantly providing advice on how to handle specific issues based on his knowledge and experience with other municipalities.
2. How does council make decisions?
   The word democracy means “rule of the people”, which basically means that the people rule themselves. The most important thing to keep in mind as a counsellor is that you are elected to represent the views of the people, not to advance your own priorities. As a member of council, you need to listen to and respect the views of other counsellors and make decisions together.
3. I travel south in the winter and so would miss too many meetings
   Council meets monthly and you have the option to join meetings remotely by conference call or web conferencing (e.g. Skype). Also, the majority of activity is in the summer so if you are able to remotely join meetings in the winter you will the opportunity to participate more hands-on in the summer.
4. I don’t have the time
   This is understandable, but if you want a community that is active and enjoyable to be in you have a responsibility to help build that community. With being a counsellor, you get out of it what you put into it (which is true for most things in life), the more effort you put in and the more you get involved the more fulfilling it will be. Being a counsellor is not a chore, it is an exciting opportunity. Also, it is important to know that you are not responsible for doing everything as a counsellor, your role is much more focused on deciding what to do and enabling other groups to do it (e.g. recreation committee, Summer Village Manager, and contractors).

As a final note, I want to let everyone know that I will not be running for council in the up-coming election because I have had a significant change in my career and I will be focused on that for the next few years. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on council and may run again in the future.

If you have questions about council, you can contact any of us on council or our CAO:

• Mark Miller, Mayor
  mark.miller@svnakamun.com, 780-665-3755
• Harry Kassian, Deputy Mayor
  harry.kassian@svnakamun.com, 780-951-7452
• Bill Burrell, Councillor
  bill.burrell@svnakamun.com, 780-967-3691
• Dwight Moskalyk, CAO
  cao@svnakamun.com, 780-652-1170

[Mark Miller]

Here is a follow-up post from Harry Kassian, Deputy Mayor:

As Mark Miller has previously stated in his comments, this is indeed an election year for our Summer Village and he shared his ideas on our civic duty and why you might consider running for Council. I concur that his comments are shared by me and there is no point in reiterating them again.

However, I would like to state that I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve our village for many years and can only say that throughout this time, a great amount of satisfaction and personal reward was to be gained from completing projects that enhance our community. eg. boat launch, finding our Environmental Consultant to stop Masse’s development, etc.

This position does entail a commitment, time, energy, knowledge and an open mind. Our CAO is a great tutor on the MGA and has a vast amount of knowledge and experience in guiding us. Also, the experience of serving on Council is a fulfilling one with many experiences in the involvement in not only our village but with the other summer villages in our County as well.

Supplementary Courses from the Alberta Government are available for new Council Members to assist them and get them on their way.

I have enjoyed my time on Council and I have made the decision to run as a candidate in the upcoming election. If I am elected, I will work with any new Council members and look forward to sharing any experience that I have gained.

In closing, I am disappointed to see Mark Miller leaving as his energy and exuberance for our summer village will be missed. I am sure you will agree he has done an outstanding job for our village, and as he stated he “may run again in the future”.

Harry Kassian, Deputy Mayor

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