No seat will go un-fought this October in Sturgeon County now that 21 residents have entered the race for county council.
Some 21 people filed nomination papers Monday to run in the 2013 Sturgeon County civic election.
In a marked change from last year – where Mayor Don Rigney and councillors Tom Flynn, Karen Shaw and Don McGeachy were acclaimed – there will be electoral races in all six divisions, plus a race for the mayor's chair.
The mayoral race will be a head-to-head match of Rigney versus Flynn.
Division 1, 2, 3
McGeachy will run against newcomers Dan Derouin and Ferd Caron to represent Division 1 (Namao and Lamoreux).
A retired captain with the Edmonton fire department and owner of a Tim Hortons outlet in Fort Saskatchewan, Derouin, 61, said he decided to run in order to get a more effective council. "I've been around the county for a long time. I know how it's growing."
There were too many personality conflicts on the current council, Derouin said, and that's holding up county business. "You've got to get along to make something happen." He said his experience with teamwork through his business and the fire department would make him an effective, co-operative person on council.
His division also had big problems with roads that weren't being addressed. "People are getting killed on the highways out here," Derouin said, some of which are often backed up for miles. "We've got to pressure the provincial government to get these roads done."
A financial advisor based in Edmonton, Caron, 62, said he's kept a close eye on county council in these last seven years as a member of the Sturgeon Valley area structure plan advisory committee. "It's time to make a change."
County residents need a council that will do a better job of listening to residents, Caron said, as the current ones seem to argue all the time. If elected, he would aim to understand the needs of everyone in the region.
Caron is a frequent volunteer with events such as the St. Albert Special Olympics, Batting for Breast Cancer and Operation Red Nose. He also spearheaded the now-annual Sturgeon Valley Clean-Up.
Cardiff and Carbondale residents will have three choices when it comes to whom to put in Flynn's old seat in Division 2: Susan Evans, Thomas Yurchak and Barry Lupyrypa.
Lupyrypa declined to be interviewed when reached by the Gazette. He last ran for office in the 2009 by-election, coming in third behind Flynn and Craig Toth with 125 votes.
In 2009, Lupyrypa was sentenced to a year of house arrest and a year of probation after being found guilty of assault and obstruction of a Morinville police officer.
Three people hope to take Ken McGillis's old seat in the Villeneuve-Calahoo-Pine Sands area of Division 3: Ian Skinner, John Bowes and Wayne Bokenfohr.
Skinner, a compliance officer and member of the Onoway River Valley Conservation Association (ORVCA), said he hoped to make Sturgeon County a leader in sustainable development if elected. A past volunteer with the Calahoo fire department, the 55-year-old has served as an advisor for the University of Alberta's environmental resource management certificate program.
Bowes, 67, said he decided to run because he saw the current council as "dysfunctional," with councillors always arguing and votes always coming down to the same 4-3 split. "It makes for inefficiency and it makes for probably poor decision making."
A chartered accountant, Bowes said he would keep an open mind if elected and aim to foster consensus and constructive debate on council.
He also criticized council for running down its reserves. He promised to aim for balanced budgets, and to seriously examine what level of service residents actually wanted. "If they want more, well, it costs more to provide more."
Bowes served for nine years on the Edmonton Regional Airports Authority where he helped manage the group's $60 to $80 million budget and a major expansion of the Edmonton International Airport. He was a founding member of the county's economic development board, and currently sits on the community service and assessment review boards.
Division 4, 5, 6
Corey Graham has joined Jerry Kaup in the race against incumbent David Kluthe in Division 4.
Graham, 40, owns The Chiro Clinic in St. Albert and coaches Bantam AA hockey in Morinville. "I want to be part of the positive change coming to Sturgeon County," he said. He promised to be a good representative if elected.
Division 5 is a five-way race between incumbent Joe Milligan, Deanna Stang, Jacob Middelkamp, Patrick Tighe and Wayne Bullock.
Middelkamp, 60, is a chicken farmer who lives near Gibbons and a former volunteer fire chief in Redwater. He served 12 years as a director with the Alberta Chicken Producers, eight with the Chicken Farmers of Canada, and three with the United Farmers of Alberta.
Bullock could not be reached for an interview by press time.
Division 6 will pit incumbent Karen Shaw against Rick Kuefler.
Questions on the election should go to returning officer Tom Lysyk at 780-939-8291.
