StettlerLocal.com October 2, 2020 @ 2:17PM
Throughout 2020, the County of Stettler has been reconsidering the boundaries that divide its seven political wards. han the median, but the Byemoor/Endiang ward has 35% fewer. The county’s population has shifted since the boundaries were originally drawn, and as they stand, some wards have drastically more or less representation. For example, the Botha/Gadsby ward has 35% more residents t
The County is considering adjusting the boundaries so that once again, each ward has approximately the same population and representation. In order to do this, they are considering two different plans. One plan would simply redraw the boundaries of the wards, keeping their number at seven and keeping the Chief Elected Official as a Reeve appointed by the County Council.
A second plan would divide the county instead into six slightly larger wards and change the Chief Elected Official to a Mayor, elected by the public. The County of Stettler website has diagrams available to see where these boundaries would fall here: https://www.stettlercounty.ca/350/Ward-Review.
The website explains that “There are pros and cons to be considered for both sides of this decision.”
The County website goes lists “cons” for the idea of an elected Mayor, including the insinuation that “Some would say a ward with both an elected Councillor and an elected Chief (Mayor) would have better or more representation than the other 5 remaining wards.”
The “pros and cons” listed: 1. With six wards and a Mayor, your ward might get less representation because your representative would have a bigger ward. 2. “Some would say” it isn’t fair to elect a Mayor who comes from a ward which also has a representative.
The County website includes a link to a survey through which to provide feedback up until October 12, 2020, but the link itself is broken. Clicking it leads here, as of 12:30 pm October 1: https://portal.laserfiche.ca/b3406/forms/form/error/?errorCode=500.
We called the reception desk at the County Office, and the person who answered verified that the link was broken but assured us that it would be “up and running” later that afternoon and that residents can also mail in a version of the survey found in Stettler County Connection magazine.
If you don’t have access to the magazine, you’ll need to call the County at 403-742-4441 and request a survey via mail.
For more information https://www.stettlercounty.ca/350/Ward-Review
