There is no shortage of talented and thoughtful Hatters who would make great councillors. But we can only vote for the people that actually run and there are a number of barriers to running in the local election. Hopefully this information helps demystify the job and the process of running.
It is through politics that we will solve our great challenges. Improving and reforming government is the most interesting challenge out there. This has been the best job I’ve ever had. Challenging, interesting, and rewarding. I wish more people could have this experience.
Breakdown of 2017 campaign activities and expenses.
Step 1: Understanding the job
Time commitment
Often council members are retired or close to retirement. Younger people are less established in their careers and may also be juggling a family. The thought of adding another job on top of this can seem overwhelming, but the time commitment is manageable. It’s supposed to be a part-time job.
Life balance
The most interesting part of the job is talking to people. You get to interact with people from every part of the city. It’s a disorienting array of experiences. I can go from having coffee with someone experiencing homelessness to lunch with business people looking to invest millions to afternoon tea with a group of angry grandmothers to sitting around someone’s dinner table in the evening.
People also tend to call at all times. Turning off your phone when its time for your break helps. Successful councillors have balance so it’s good to set boundaries. 4-years is a marathon not a sprint.
Reading Homework
There is a lot of reading to do on council. Here are the important documents to familiarize yourself with.
The Municipal Development Plan is the main planning document for the city. It will be much easier to advocate for an idea if it aligns with the MDP.
The city has put out a list of key resources to understand municipal operations.
Each council/committee package outlines each decision item and the rationale. You can find them here to get a sense of the issues.
Our meetings are streamed live here. It’s better to attend in person. You can get a feel for how meetings go. Anyone can attend and we have beautiful council chambers.
The Medicine Hat Chamber has a number of municipal economic and political policies they advocate for. It’s a good idea to read those.
I’ve written on how the city got into our current financial state, what our 4-year budget accomplished, a primer on collective bargaining, and other issues.
Always read with a critical eye.
Committee work
Main council meetings are on the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month. Council usually runs from 3:30 pm to 8:30 pm. A closed meeting in the afternoon followed by the open portion beginning at 6:30 pm.
Each councillor is appointed to 3-6 committees. Time spent in these committee meetings averages 3 hours a week. Some meet twice a month. Others once a month. You can see the current committee assignments here. This helps envision what your workload might look like.
Each committee sets its own meeting times to accommodate committee members. So if you’ve got another job or prior commitment there is flexibility on the city’s side. Some committees meet over lunch. Some begin in the afternoon after school gets out. (We have two teachers on council.) Since this job is meant to be part-time most councillors are balancing a day job.
City Committees
The titles for these committees are intimidating, but councillors are not expected to be experts. You don’t need to have all the answers, just a willingness to learn and ask good questions. Senior staff at City Hall are there to assist councillors. Staff will explain a problem, offer solutions with pros and cons, then it's up to councillors to make a decision. There is an orientation to council and committees. The whole point of our system of democracy is that anyone can run.
The Mayor traditionally sets committee appointments. Here are the committees that are divided among the 8 councillors.
Public Services (Fire Services, parks and recreation, culture, social services) meets twice/month
Utilities and Infrastructure (electric generation, natural gas production and distribution, water, sewer) meets twice/month
Corporate Services (taxation, finances, city administration) meets twice/month
Strategic Analysis (Planning, corporate efficiency analysis) meets twice/month
Audit Committee (financial review) meets three times a year
Administrative & Legislative Review Committee (bureaucratic process, appointments to community boards) meets as needed
Municipal Planning Commission (planning and development permits) meets once a month
Council representation on community boards
Police Commission: meets once a month
Medicine Hat Community Housing Society: meets once a month
Regional Drainage Committee (regional irrigation and flood control) meets as needed
Subdivision & Development Appeal Board meets as needed
Medalta Historic Society: meets once a month
Medicine Hat Public Library: meets once a month
Shortgrass Regional Library: meets once a month
Cypress View Foundation (affordable housing for older adults): meets once a month
Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede: meets as needed
Constituency work
Unlike provincial and federal politicians, councillors don’t have constituency workers. However, senior staff in each department are there to help. But constituency work requires nuanced judgment. When a resident calls you with a problem you must determine:
How many people suffer from this issue? Just this resident or many others as well?
Is the system working as intended? For example, if someone complains about a parking ticket is there a problem with enforcement? A problem with the way the bylaw is written? What are the alternatives?
Step 2: Engaging with the public
Develop a platform
You’ll want to spend some time developing ideas about what your goals or alternatively what problems and concerns you’d like to prioritize.
It helps to meet with community groups and leaders. Tell them you’re running and would like to hear from them. Most are happy to grab a coffee and share their thoughts with you. It helps to talk to as wide a variety of people as possible from small business owners, to older adults, to moms, to students. Listening is the first step. Understanding what’s been done or currently being done is the next step.
People should know what your goals are. Here was my platform. Few candidates actually had a platform, including Mayor Clugston who ran without platform. This is a not a sign of a healthy political environment. You might win running on just personality, but progress is as much about ideas as people.
Election Rules
The last thing you want to do is break election rules—whether about fundraising, or where and when you can put up signs. So read the rules. If you have any questions ask the City Clerk or the Election Returning Officer. Their contact information is listed at the bottom of the linked page.
Polling data
Here are the voting results from each voting station in 2017. It’s an Excel spreadsheet you can download. You can see which areas had higher turnout and are more likely to vote. But those neighbourhoods with low voter turnout perhaps haven’t had a good reason to vote. Give them a reason. Persuasion is the name of the game. You need roughly 6,000 votes.
2017 results. Top 8 candidates get in.
Fundraising
Instead of asking for donations we asked supporters to volunteer their time. I was uncomfortable asking for money the first time around because I wasn’t sure how indebted to people I would feel. Time is as valuable, but was easier to ask for. We had a team of about 39 volunteers and used them primarily for handbill distribution. They were so awesome!
But this is a personal decision for everyone. People do like to donate to candidates they support. Politics is a team game so don’t be afraid to ask people for help and support.
Here's a tally of our 2017 campaign expenses.
Punk kids no doubt. Actually, I think Safira’s uncle did this. A family of practical jokers.
Signage and handbills
Lawn signs are one of the traditional forms of electioneering. We printed ours at Boylan’s, but a number of other businesses can print them. Lawn signs are relatively easy. Large signs get complicated.
Managing the large signs was one of the more labour intensive jobs. The fall of 2017 was very windy and we had to constantly monitor the large signs at major intersections in case they blew down. It was a huge pain in the neck. I wonder what is the optimal number of signs against maintenance time. Huge shout out to my mother-in-law, Roxanne, who led this effort!
Design matters
Safira is a designer so that was very helpful, but if you’re looking for a designer here are some great local ones: Avance Creative, Bailey Warner, Dec 2nd, Flag 5, or Tag Concepts.
Our handbills were printed by Prime Printing.
This is what we handed out.
Door knocking and canvassing
I would focus on dropping off your pamphlet in mailboxes and covering as much of the city as possible. Actually knocking on people’s doors and talking to residents has some downsides. For starters conversations about politics are fraught these days. They can read your platform at their leisure and make up their own mind.
Of course walking through neighbourhoods you’re bound to run into people. I didn’t try to get into conversations about politics unless they were initiated. We focused on reminding people when election day was. We didn’t ask people to vote for me, but instead tried to get as many people to vote.
Our team of volunteers and myself covered 80% of Medicine Hat. We had a big and committed team of volunteers—organized by Safira. All this help was huge in our campaign.
Online canvassing is another useful tool. We were active over social media and my website.
Campaign Headquarters in 2017. Looks like I’m hard at work watching football.
Chamber of Commerce debate
The only debates are organized by the Chamber of Commerce. In 2017 these debates occurred over three nights. If you’ve read what I’ve suggested it’ll show.
Even split over two nights you had 9 councillor candidates sharing the stage, a mix of incumbents and challengers. That’s not a lot of time to speak or challenge incumbents. It’s not a great format and no other organization has created any additional debates yet.
This night was the most nerve-wracking for me. In hindsight watching a previous debate would have greatly helped me prepare. The same type of questions are likely to appear this time as well. A friendly tip—if you don’t understand the question don’t be afraid to say you don’t know or don’t have an opinion. One of the hardest things for a new candidate is answering questions about everything from fire services to police to planning to economic development to power generation to social services. You don’t have to have all the answers.
I’m also happy to answer questions over the phone (403-952-5382), email (krisam@medicinehat.ca), or over coffee.
Good competition makes everyone better. I hope you decide to run. Remember—a goal without a plan is a wish. Good luck.