cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
Linnsie Clark says she’s pleased that a movement to remove her from office didn’t succeed, and she’s ready to “move forward” on several important issues for the city, including a utility rate review, which she says she’s called for since taking office.
“It’s a good opportunity to reflect and move on, continuing to focus on serving the entire community,” she told the News on Tuesday, one day after a deadline to submit a petition that could have led to her removal from office passed. “I’m looking forward to moving forward.”
The effort required 26,000 signatures, equal to 40 per cent of the city’s population, to trigger a byelection. Organizers said Monday they collected about 8,000 and wouldn’t officially submit them for scrutiny, thereby ending the process.
Clark, who rarely commented on the move to force a byelection during a 60-day period, also said the basic result “confirmed” the 2021 election result.
The petition, a process under 2021 changes to the Municipal Government Act, was launched in early October, months after lead organizer Nicole Frey had also chastised council in a letter and informal petition on a social media site.
That came while council was deciding on the final details of a three-point plan to address high power prices that caused major upset among city utility customers over the summer, and calls from some corners to go further in rate cutting.
Frey told the News on Monday that the petition, while not submitted, provided her group with momentum to call for an audit of city council decisions and processes by Alberta Ministry of Municipal Affairs.
Clark said she considers the petition a facet of the democratic process that has now concluded.
“It’s essentially a confirmation of the election result,” said Clark. “I’m certainly well aware that not everyone voted for me in the last election – about 7,000 individuals voted for another candidate – but I was successful by a fairly wide margin and this is similar to that.”
In the fall of 2021, Clark earned about 13,150 votes out of 19,800 ballots cast. Incumbent Ted Clugston recorded 4,659, Alan Rose 1,562, and two others about 500 combined.
But, 8,000 signatures is about equal to the number of votes of the top vote-getting councillor.
Clark said she wouldn’t speculate about further political action from now two separate groups calling themselves variations of a “Ratepayers Association,” and added she hasn’t yet considered what she will do in the next election.
She plans to make that decision in early 2025 ahead of a general election the following autumn.
“I consider it my job to serve the entire community, but as leadership and a council we need to focus on the strategic plan while considering all points of view. We’ve set a course and will follow that.”
In September, council called a special meeting to approve a $33-million utility credit program for city customers after prices rose to record highs in the summer, then set a new power rate range in subsequent meetings and also ordered a review of the power division’s operating model. That report is due in 2024.
That came after council could not agree on the terms and scope of a rate review in the spring, and administrators asked council to define calls for a “rate review” approved shortly after the 2021 election.
Clark said council held itself up as different members had opposing views on whether public ownership of the city’s 110-year-old power business should be examined, but that will now be part of the coming review.
“I’ve been calling for a rate review since I got elected,” Clark said. “That’s been delayed, but I’m grateful that it’s going forward.”
Alberta Municipal Affairs confirmed to the News this week that the 2021 recall legislation has now been put into action four other times in Alberta municipalities.
It was successful in removing a councillor in the Village of Ryley, near Edmonton, and was insufficient twice in the village of Carbon and once in Lamont County.
