While You Were Out - Election Edition

I'm back from vacation and ready to get going! But first a quick plug: Go to Nova Scotia. It was a great time and the province has some of the most beautiful landscapes in our country.

Of course the world doesn't stop when you have a vacation so there is quite a bit to catch up on. Most interestingly there were four announcements related to the municipal election. A few quick hits on that front for your reading pleasure:

Dwight Logan to Challenge Wayne Ayling for Mayor
full story

My Comment:I guess Dwight figures he has time on his hands since he sold his business, the York Hotel downtown, after owning and running it for years and years. He and Wayne faced off in 2001 with Wayne coming out on top. I'm really surprised that he's running on "better cooperation with the county". We meet with the County of Grande Prairie council often and as individuals we all get along great. Their council just has a different philosophy from our council - as a group our council looks to provide services. It seem to me that the County feels that their role is to spend as little as possible.

Lorne Radbourne to Run for Alderman
full story

My Comment: On behalf of the city I attended Lorne's retirement celebration last year. I got to say a few words about the impact he had on our community through his years in the school system and the turn out of current and former teachers was incredible. I believe his dad served on council waaaay back in the day so it must run in the family. In the news article Lorne mentions that relationship building is something that he feels council needs to do. He must not have read my stories about our visits with Fort St. John and Dawson Creek. Welcome to the race Lorne!

Kevin McLean to Run for Alderman
full story

My Comment: Kevin ran in the 2004 election and I remember running into him one day when I was putting up signs in the south end of the city. The news paper article mentions that he'd like to "press candidates to reveal who’s donating to their campaigns." There's no reason why not and I think I'll probably join him in that. Welcome to the race Kevin!

Elroy Deimert to Run for Alderman
full story

My Comment: Elroy also ran in 2004. In the kick off news article he is quoted saying that Grande Prairie is "...a great place to work but not a good place to live." I'd have to disagree and I think that maybe didn't come exactly as he'd have hoped. The city does have it's problems, especially given the huge growth pressures lately and we have to keep working to address those. But, I still think GP is a great place to live and with facilities like the new Cultural Center, Aquatics Centre coming and our efforts to address Affordable Housing it's only going to get better. Welcome to the race Elroy!

So the election is underway, the real campaigning will probably start in September but I'm sure there will be a few more announcements between now and then. You never know, there may even be something this week. I'll keep you up to date...