Elections are an important opportunity for communities to talk about direction and where we see ourselves. Elections also depend on people putting their names forward. I am happy to participate in that process.  

Here are the things I need a hand with: delivering handbills, putting up a lawn sign, donations, hosting a meet and greet, and setting the tone.

The standard we should judge service delivery is not perfection, but our peers. Participating in municipal benchmarking is the best way to accomplish this.

Right now municipal councils across Alberta ask their administrations to provide a recommendation for every ‘Request for Decision.’ This places staff in an unfair, impossible position. Instead of interpreting 'advise' to mean recommending a decision to council, we can alternatively interpret 'advise' to mean informing council of benefits, risks and tradeoffs, leaving the final decision to council.

Understanding the legislated powers of mayors and councillors in Alberta helps set expectations for how municipal councils are intended to function. Alberta’s municipal governance model prioritizes collective decision making. This model has benefits, but requires high level teamwork skills from mayors and councillors.

Councillors are elected on individual platforms, then must immediately transition to working as a team. I didn’t appreciate the difficulty of working as a team until I sat down in one of the nine council chairs. 

A citizen is not a subject, not a spectator, but someone responsible for self-government, a contributor to community. 

During the campaign there are the two conflict of interests I am navigating. Disclosure is part of mitigating these potential conflicts.