Nicole Frey collects signatures for a recall petition prior to a city council meeting at Medicine Hat city hall on Oct. 16.--News Photo Collin Gallant
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
COLLIN GALLANT
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com
Twitter: CollinGallant
A recall effort to unseat Mayor Linnsie Clark is entering its final week while another to ask the Alberta government to review city action on utility rates this past summer is ongoing.
A deadline to collect more than 26,000 names of local voters, thereby forcing Mayor Linnsie Clark out of office, is the end of business on Monday, Dec. 11.
Sources tell the News that the group handling the formal petition effort may have about half that number with about nine days remaining.
A second, related petition, is being circulated to support calls for audit by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs of city operations.
Clark hasn’t commented in depth on either, but told the News when the petition process officially began on Oct. 13 that she would focus on her duties, not the potential byelection.
Petition lead Nicole Frey became vocal in the early spring as a critic of city council in general and Clark specifically for what she says has been inaction on important issues. That grew during the utility rate debates that became heated in the late summer.
“This is the only way to get a byelection – which is the goal,” Frey told the News at the time, stating it was a message to all of council but added that Clark was “failing to live up to her (campaign) promises.”
Under legislation passed in 2022, an MLA, municipal official or school board trustee could be recalled if a petition signed by eligible voters totalling 40 per cent of the population is gathered over 60 days.
In the City of Medicine Hat’s case, the population is considered to be 65,945 by Alberta Municipal Affairs, and 40 per cent of that figure is 26,380.
Once submitted, a petition is certified by the chief administrative officer over a period of no more than 45 days.
If it passes scrutiny including a count and verification of a random sampling of signatures, the city manager would publish the result, inform the province and declare the position in question vacant.
Calls for an audit of city handling of the utility issue is occurring side by side with the recall effort, but one leader in the movement says she is now focused on the audit more than forcing a byelection on other issues.
Sou Boss, a restaurant owner who led critics of record-high utility prices in the summer and staged a large protest meeting, said she is now focused on the audit measure.
“For what’s come in and people talking with us while they come through to sign, I think the message has gotten through to a lot of people, and they are paying attention now,” said Boss.
“Particularly with the utilities, people just want answers. Even if we don’t get to 13,000, hopefully the minister (of Municipal Affairs) will look at it as a lot of people.”
She says the city should be more forthcoming to clear up misconceptions or apologize for any mistakes. She leads a group described as a “Utility Ratepayers Association” that Boss says wants a reversal on utility franchise fees and a better look at why power prices spiked this summer
Recently the City of Chestermere was admonished and required to take corrective action after an inspection audit found irregularities, including improperly hiring city managers, improper interactions with staff, withholding information, late filing of financial statements and interference by politicians in operational matters.
Minister Ric McIver announced in October he would dismiss all elected council members and three top city managers.
A municipal audit of the Town of Redcliff in the early 2010s found no financial wrongdoing and that the town was generally well-managed. It did however make a series of recommendations and issued a dozen directives to improve operations and meet legal requirements.
This fall, Municipal Affairs is also collecting feedback from Albertans about potential changes in local government regulations under the Municipal Government Act, including elections and requirements for elected officials.
A public survey period concludes Dec. 6 on the Government of Alberta’s website.
