News
Sports
Weather
Classifieds
Opinions
Obituaries
Special Reports

Home
About Us
FAQ
Links
Advertising

Carstairs Courier
Didsbury Review
Innisfail Province
Mountain View Gazette
Olds Albertan
Sundre Round Up

Commercial Printing
Great West Newspapers

It’s that time of year again – time to elect your favourite government officials to municipal office.

Oct. 18, 2010, will bring voters to the polls to elect six councillors and one mayor. The deadline to put your name in the hat for one of the positions with town council is Sept. 20.

Darryl Joyce, employee with the Town of Innisfail, explained that anyone wishing to run for council has had to reside in the town for at least six months proceeding nomination day.

"Councillors represent the constituency," Joyce said. "They are primarily a policy-making body, and are asked to make policy-type decisions on a variety of matters.

"One of the biggest decisions each year is the municipal budget."

Councillors also represent the town on a variety of boards and committees in the region, and Joyce said it’s an expectation that new councillors will be able to pull their own weight when it comes to sitting on these boards and participating.

The mayor is the town’s chief elected officer and "the face of council," said Joyce, representing council in community events and on other stages across the province.

Joyce said the mayor is a position that’s elected separately, and a person can’t run for a position as councillor and mayor – it’s one or the other.

The pay for councillors is $565 a month, plus an extra $75 to attend council or administration meetings, $200 daily for out-of-town meetings and $175 daily for in-town meetings. Mileage is also covered at 50.5 cents a kilometre, as well as hotel rooms and meals while councillors are involved in town business.

The mayor makes a flat rate of $2,000 a month.

Innisfail’s current mayor, Ken Graham, has occupied the chair at the head of the council table for the last six years.

"I wanted to give something back to the town," Graham said of why he chose to run for mayor. "This town has been very good to my wife and I. People here are so friendly – it didn’t take us long to make friends."

Graham said he had several people tell him he should run for the mayor position, but he hadn’t really considered it before that.

Before coming to Innisfail, Graham and his wife had lived in Winnipeg, Man., where Graham had worked for Manitoba Municipal Affairs.

"I had worked there for about 35 years, so I knew what being mayor entailed," he explained.

Graham said he enjoys everything about being mayor – the meetings, the changes in the community council has been able to make and "the good we’ve tried to do."

Although he enjoys his job, Graham said he isn’t sure if he’s going to run for a third term.

"When my first term ended, I was sure I was going to run again," he said. "But I’m not sure this time. I’ve been working for 41 years – maybe I’ve earned retirement."

Don Shygera has been a councillor with the town for the last six years, or two terms, as well.

"I thought it would be interesting," he said of his decision to run for council. "Anytime you can do something for your community, it’s interesting."

Shygera said he’s really enjoyed his time as a councillor.

"You always want to be in the know and always hope your ideas will benefit the community," he said.

Shygera said he liked the idea of being able to meet other people, get ideas for different ways to help the community and he enjoys the challenge of being a councillor.

Although Shygera retired from his full-time job the year he ran for council, he said he doesn’t believe all councillors have to be retired.

"There’s a lot of reading and trying to keep up with everything, but I don’t think you have to be retired to be a councillor."

When Oct. 18 rolls around, Joyce said the town will once again be using an electronic voting machine to register votes, just like the last municipal election three years ago.

"It really speeds it up," Joyce said. "You can vote for six councillors and one mayor and the results are in about 15 minutes after the polls close.

"It worked extremely well last time."