ATHABASCA – Athabasca County councillors have chosen a new direction for their table, opting to go with a new reeve and deputy reeve after Brian Hall stepped down two weeks ago.
During the Oct. 31 organizational meeting, councillors elected Reeve Tracy Holland into her new position by a 5-4 secret ballot vote. Holland defeated former deputy reeve Ashtin Anderson in a tight race.
“First and foremost I would like to extend my gratitude to Coun. Hall, for his dedication, determination, and grit in his role as Reeve; your tireless efforts are commendable," said Holland once she picked up the gavel.
"I would also like to thank Coun. Cromwell for the reeve nomination, and my colleagues for your confidence in me to take on this role, and for your patience as I learn it. I'm truly honoured and I look forward to continuing our work."
Holland will be joined by former Athabasca County public works foreman Rob Minns, who won the deputy reeveship in another tight vote, defeating Anderson 5-4. Due to a “quirk," as CAO Bob Beck said, in the Municipal Government Act, councillors elect the deputy reeve in a public vote.
Holland, Minns, Cromwell, and councillors Kelly Chamzuk and Joe Gerlach voted for Minns, while Anderson, Hall, and councillors Natasha Kapitaniuk and Camille Wallach voted for Anderson.
“I’m looking forward to learning and helping the reeve help the county move forward. It’s about supporting the county itself and moving council along hopefully,” said Minns in a Nov. 1 interview.
“We’re all councillors, in the long end, we’re all councillors and everybody’s got the same role.”
Minns said he was looking forward to the new challenges the role of deputy reeve will bring, including chairing the counties committee of the whole meetings, which can be full of discussions and disagreements.
“I’m hoping everybody will help us move forward because we’re all elected officials and we’re there for the ratepayers,” he said.
Holland was unavailable for an interview before print, but she did provide some short answers via email.
“The municipal level of government sparked my interest many years ago as it allows for the residents of a municipality to democratically forge the direction they want to see their community go in. Seeing immediate results from everyone working together to complete a common goal is awesome,” said Holland when asked why she initially ran.
Both Holland and Minns will be hitting the ground running, with the two representing Athabasca County alongside their fellow councillors at the fall session of Rural Municipalities of Alberta starting Nov. 4, but Minns is confident they're up to the task.
“I don’t think we’ll lose a step at all. It’s a plan. We just got to stick with the plan, keep moving things forward, work with administration and try to work with all of council to move things forward,” said Minns.
“It’s a learning curve; they’ll be some late nights, with lots of talking and reading,” he concluded with a grin.
