Cochrane voters won’t have to wait long to determine if they made the right choices when electing their new town council.
Cochrane voters won’t have to wait long to determine if they made the right choices when electing their new town council.
Council, which only has two returning members from the previous term, will right away be tossed into the deep end wading into 2018 budget deliberations - a fitting analogy considering the new pool and its cost overruns are fresh in voters’ mind.
Of the six councillors and mayor, four - Jeff Genung, Morgan Nagel, Tara McFadden and Alex Reed - have previous council experience, while Susan Flowers brings a wealth of knowledge after decades at the bureaucratic level with Cochrane Family and Community Support Services. Patrick Wilson and Marni Fedeyko are the two rookies who bring a history of community engagement to the table - albeit from very different realms.
The results, especially the ousting of incumbent Ivan Brooker, speak to the desire for change.
Genung, who served on council a decade ago, is sitting in the mayor’s chair for the first time. Of any member of this new council, he has the most to prove. Not only will he need to show his effectiveness as a leader, but demonstrate his commitment to a platform that was riddled with challenges - including ideas that will require changes to provincial law.
Cochrane’s explosive growth, which resulted in frustrating infrastructure problems, was laid at the feet of Brooker who many believed was too friendly to developers. That perception and a strong push on social media for #anyonebutbrooker carried Genung to victory. But it is going to take a whole lot more than not being Brooker to have success as mayor.
Nagel and McFadden’s successful bid for re-election retains a little consistency around the table. Nagel is expected to continue his push for slowing down community growth and addressing infrastructure needs. Nagel, in his single-minded drive to slow growth, will hopefully be cognizant of the fact that as Alberta claws its way out of a recession the last thing the town needs is job suppression.
McFadden, who will be the longest serving councillor at the table, will hopefully be a bridge between differing ideas using her knowledge to foster co-operation and compromise.
McFadden’s skills will be important on this council, which leans to the right of the spectrum and was carried to power via the populous view of limiting growth and fixing traffic problems.
Between Nagel, Wilson and Reed espousing the need for smaller government and reduced spending, Flowers will be a much-needed voice from the left who will bring her passion for social services to the table.
While it is vital that council spend wisely, focus on sustainable growth and work on repairing our infrastructure deficit, it should not be done at the expense of vital social programs such as the proposed Big Hill Haven women’s shelter. Flowers is the councillor we expect to champion such causes and help ensure council does not lose sight of its responsibility to the marginalized and at-risk populations of the community.
Wilson and Fedeyko will have a lot to prove on council. Wilson, who came across hard-nosed at the election forums, will have to demonstrate he has the open-mindedness to work with the rest of council. While we are not looking for him to be a “yes man ” and in fact would never want that quality from any councillor, there is a fine balance between good governance and political ideology.
Fedeyko ran a strong campaign focused on community engagement and knowledge of the issues. She will now have to prove there was depth to those claims and consider strongly the danger of bad optics that can arise when a councillor has so many pet projects - some that benefit from municipal money - and a job in media where the goals are often at odds with the political establishment.
We wish this council luck in the upcoming term and with their first task of the 2018 budget. We sincerely hope they prove worthy of the faith Cochrane voters have placed in them.
