NEWS FILE PHOTO
Ted Grimm, Medicine Hat's longest serving mayor, pictured here in an 1982 file photo, passed away on Dec. 10 at the age of 86.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
Friends, allies and even political challengers are remembering Ted Grimm, whose name became synonymous with public service during more than two decades as mayor.
Building the civic identity public utilities and service-oriented government, Hatters elected him to eight terms as mayor between 1974 and 2001.
He died on Dec. 10 at age 86. A service is planned for Saturday.
Greg Niwa was Grimm’s campaign manager for his seven straight mayoral campaign wins.
Niwa reflected on their private friendship this week, Grimm’s largely hidden but “wicked sense of humour,” and how his friend could connect with people.
“He would talk with people, but more importantly he’d listen, and that’s without question, why he was so successful,” recalled Niwa on Friday.
“He wanted to know how average Joe on the street felt about the issues.”
Political colleagues remembers Grimm as a natural born political leader who could rally support.
Ken Sauer, whose long service on council aligned with Grimm’s tenure as mayor, grew up with him in Fox Valley,Sask. The two were friends who reconnected in the Hat before Grimm’s re-election campaign in 1977, when Sauer entered the aldermanic field.
“He was a couple years younger, but he really was a mentor,” Sauer recalled this week. “I really came to respect his approach to life. He was a common sense person then, and he sure brought that to his time as mayor of Medicine Hat.
“He had vision and brought things to fruition that many people didn’t think were possible.”
The list of major city projects over Grimm’s term in office includes southside development, the Cultural Centre agreement, Veiner Centre, Family Leisure Centre, the arrival of the Saamis Tepee, and initial talks to build the Esplanade – all issues that were not without challenges or detractors.
Former council member Julie Friesen recalled Grimm’s leadership style as strong but not inflexible. It eventually led to compromise, or at very least, a fair hearing.
“There was a stature about him – you knew he was the mayor,” she said.
“And he could be tough, and you have to be in politics, but he was always fair.”
Friesen appreciated that Grimm would usually explain the basics of every motion and wouldn’t allow council members to vote against motions without stating the reason why.
That, said Friesen, gave the public a better understanding of the issue, outlined pros and cons, and showed residents decisions weren’t just being rubber stamped.
Several controversies did erupt over the years.
After a loss in the 1977 election, Grimm worked as a real estate agent and listed for sale the former Ford dealership downtown, but wound up purchasing it with a group of investors.
Eventually the city acquired the land, across from city hall, at a markup to add the key location to the municipal land bank, but lawsuits from the former owner ensued.
Eventually, Grimm was required to relinquish the profit he made on the sale, and coverage strained Grimm’s relationship with the News.
“He was a forbidding figure and didn’t suffer fools gladly,” said James Wood, who covered city hall for the News during Grimm’s final term.
“I think after he decided that it was his last term (in 1998 to 2001), then he did soften.”
Grimm and long-time city editor Pete Mossey also jousted in the 1980s, but Graham Kelly said News would wind up endorsing Grimm at election time “in no small part because of Pete Mossey’s recommendation,” said Kelly.
“Ted was just a very private person. He would deal with the media, felt it was necessary, but he didn’t like it,” said Kelly.
Kelly was one of five major contenders who lost to Grimm in mayor’s race, in 1980, along with incumbent mayor Milt Reinhardt, and aldermen George Renner, Wayne Craven and John Hamill over the years.
Hamill’s challenge in 1998 was the closest call for Grimm, who won by 278 votes after about 20,000 ballots were cast following a bitter race.
Before the 2001 election, Grimm announced that a mayor should have a strong 20-year vision for the city, and it was time he retired.
Hamill said Friday that the loss of such a prominent person is “always a shock.”
“We were on different sides of the street politically, and we had our ups and downs, but I respected him,” said Hamill.
“Ted had a excellent way of administrating the city. We had it all – gas, the power house – it was all ours for our advantage, and I really feel that’s been given up over the years,” said Hamill.
The retired alderman said philosophical differences ran along party lines.
Hamill was more pro-growth, pro-business, and in favour of greater promotion of the city.
Other former council members recalled Grimm’s prudent guidance of the utilities, preference for economic stability, and support for quality of life issues.
“It was always steady as she goes,” said Kelly.
“Ted never got caught up in booms and busts. You knew what to expect.”
Grimm ran for the provincial New Democrats in the 1960s, and in later years supported the party. While there was little doubt about his political leanings, said former city commissioner and recent NDP MLA Bob Wanner, Grimm was popular in a largely conservative-leaning city.
He also was completely non-partisan in dealing with the provincial government, said longtime city clerk Larry Godin, and his boss worked especially well with Premier Peter Lougheed. In the early 1980s, the city became a pilot for Alberta’s urban park program with Echo Dale Regional Park and the trail system that was copied in other cities.
During his tenure, Grimm and council also fended off challenges to the city’s position in the electricity market. The power plant was expanded in the early 1980s to make the city entirely self sufficient, then in the late 1990s, the city won grandfather status as the only remaining municipal power provider in Alberta’s deregulated power market.
Sauer recalls Grimm leading negotiations to buy new gas field and testifying in Ottawa about the effects of the National Energy Program, but also leading on everyday issues.
“He had an ear for the public, and he was able to bring things together with focus,” said Sauer.
“A strong leader with a strong council left this city better. And that’s no easy task.”
