City releases guide for prospective candidates for city council

City administration have released a Prospective Candidates Guide for anyone considering running for city council in this year’s election.
“Being on Council is a great way to serve your community but we do know that many candidates have found it to be much more demanding than they originally expected,” said Director of Corporate Services Tracy Buteau.
Mayor Patricia Matthews said that serving on council since 2004 has been a great experience.
“Personally, I have been incredibly fortunate to have been able to serve our community with fantastic elected officials and staff since I got on Council,” she said.
“I have learned so much from members who were on Council before me and equally a lot from those that joined after.
“Each person has a different perspective on how to make Chestermere the best it can be,” she said.
Her experience on council has exposed Matthews to experiences and people that she otherwise wouldn’t have met in regular life.
Although the Mayor’s position is the only full time council job, Matthews said that being on council is a lot of work.
“Even if you think you have an idea of the workload, responsibilities or commitment required to serve on Council, I would encourage everyone considering running to speak to our CAO or any member of Council about the role.
“Any one of us is truly happy to answer questions,” she said, “it helps to be prepared when you take office and to prepare your family as well.”
Buteau endorses the Mayor’s advice that anyone in the community who is interested in running to research the role as much as they can.
“We have tried to provide the most pertinent information for candidates in our Prospective Candidate Guide but there is a lot more that candidates can do to be informed about the process and role,” said Buteau.
In addition to the City of Chestermere’s website, which will be updated with more information in the coming weeks, there is information about running for council on the Municipal Affairs website.
“In addition, we encourage people to attend Council meetings, take a look at the Local Authorities Election Act, and talk to former politicians to get a good sense of the role and expectations,” she said.
Prospective candidates must register with the City before they can accept campaign contributions.
This is done by completing a Notice of Intent form.
Candidates for mayor or council may self-fund up to $10,000 without registering.
Any amount over this limit is considered a contribution and cannot be accepted until the candidate has registered.
Campaign contributions may not exceed $5,000 in any year from any one person or corporation.
Buteau said it is difficult to guess how many people will choose to run in this year’s election.
In 2010, 10 candidates ran for Council and in 2013 there were 19 candidates. The Mayor was unopposed and acclaimed in both those elections.
“What we can tell you is that we haven’t had anyone register with the City as of yet,” she said.
As candidates start to come forward Matthews hopes that the American-style political campaigns that encourage negative ad campaigns and smear tactics don’t find a place in Chestermere’s election.
“At the end of the day, every person running lives in our community and hopefully continues to contribute.
“Anyone running for office should be treated with respect because by doing so they’ve indicated they are willing to serve and that is not a task to be taken lightly,” said Matthews.
The municipal election will be held on Oct. 16, 2017.