Malcolm Parker finds himself surprised and disappointed at the results of the municipal election.
Parker, an incumbent councillor, found himself in seventh place when the dust settled on Oct. 21. He received 5,884 votes, 491 less than sixth place Gilles Prefontaine. The top six form council, leaving Parker just short of getting a second term.
He’s not sure what factors led to losing his seat, but Parker said it was likely a combination of things.
“I clearly didn’t align myself with any groups,” he said, noting it seemed some informal slates were formed.
Parker feels he had the qualifications, including council experience, to be a councillor. He though the indicators showed he’d likely be re-elected, having received good feedback for his work on council during the 2010-2013 term while campaigning.
“My decisions were based on common sense, logic and being informed,” Parker said.
Reflecting on his time on council, Parker said he’d found the city to be a complex business to run with so many different staff and departments.
“It was a good experience,” he said. The public expectation is for attendance, visibility and availability, he said, and between those demands and the time needed to prepare for council and committee meetings, the job turned into an almost full time one.
Parker’s proud of his attendance record, noting he managed to make 90 per cent of his committee meetings and only physically missed one council meeting during his whole term.
Economic development – the department, the city’s plan and movement on items like the employment lands – are proud accomplishments for Parker.
“I think the economic development piece, made good strides on that one,” he said. The employment lands are zoned so the city has appropriate land available for light industrial companies, he said. With the new department, people interested in doing business in St. Albert have a place to go, and Parker also had input into the plan.
He was hoping he’d have the opportunity to continue to work on economic development in this coming term.
Another highlight for him was helping bring along the planned medical arts centre, which he noted was a campaign platform item for him. He helped champion the cause and build a relationship with the company that’s planning on developing the building, and is not sure what will happen now that he’s no longer part of council.
His work on affordable housing, sitting on the St. Albert Housing Society board and being part of a governance restructuring to create a stronger board, along with projects like Big Lake Pointe opening, is something else he considers a high point from his term.
In addition to those, his scrutiny on how the city’s money is being spent is something he’s proud of.
“I think I showed the ability to really ask tough questions,” Parker said. From capital projects to finding efficiencies to pushing some community groups to take a more critical look at their budgets, Parker said he tried to aim for fiscal responsibility.
He also tried to listen to the community, Parker said, even going door-knocking when big issues like the Erin Ridge school site allocation became a concern.
Along with continuing work on the city’s economic development and the medical arts centre, Parker is disappointed he won’t be able to continue to try and bring forward plans to clean up the Sturgeon River and develop it into an area that’s both environmentally protected but also an economic boon to residents and visitors.
“I won’t be able to finish what I started, and that’s disappointing,” Parker said of the election results.
He’ll miss the networking with city staff, community members and other municipal leaders as well.
The next municipal election is too far away to know if he’ll run again, Parker said, but he will try and keep his fingers on the pulse of the community. He said some community groups he was part of as a councillor have already approached him to be involved as a citizen, but for now he’s going to take some time to reflect on his term and the election.
When asked what advice he might give the new council, Parker emphasized the hard work they’ll have to put in to be informed and make the best decisions for the community.
“I think they have to be prepared to be hard working people and committed,” Parker said.
