RESULTS: Lacombe, Lacombe County and Blackfalds

A central Alberta resident his entire life, he admits it is an odd feeling winning with zero competition.

“I take it as people in our community thought the job I was doing was to their liking, and up to their expectations,” says Creasey, who was part of a council elected in 2017 that included just one incumbent.

“I think the most recent council worked very well together. They put forth a lot of the principles they ran on, especially revolving around transparency. I’m happy to say they followed through, which is not always the case.

“We’ve had growth in all areas of the city… and don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting changing council is the only factor, but I can tell you it was an important one in terms of how we do business. The results we’ve had prove that.”

Creasey says outside of COVID-19, the biggest challenge facing Lacombe is maintaining commercial and retail growth, though the city did take a couple large steps in the realm, he notes. Creasey also says maintaining a low property tax rate is key to continue focusing on.

“I don’t think those are items anyone expected to be able to cure or alter significantly over four years. They will persist for some time, and while we’ve made progress, there’s work to be done,” he says.

“The biggest thing Lacombe has going for it is a constant that I hope never changes, and that’s the people that live here. I know it’s cliche, but I can say wholeheartedly it is the truth.”

On his path forward, Creasey says being mayor means focusing on the positive.

“My biggest goal is to keep us on the same trajectory that we’ve established the last four years,” he says. “i don’t want people to misconstrue that to think I’m saying we’re not going to do anything, but it does take work to keep a positive trajectory going, and I intend to see council works together to in fact do that.”

FULL RESULTS

Councillors elected

Scott Dallas 1,150
Don Gullekson (Incumbent) 1,384
Thalia Hibbs (Incumbent) 1,756
Cora Hoekstra (Incumbent) 1,642
Reuben Konnik (Incumbent) 1,466
Chris Ross (Incumbent) 1,211

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LACOMBE COUNTY

Councillors elected

Division 1 – John Ireland (acclaimed)

Division 2 – Brenda Knight (acclaimed)

Division 3 – Barb Shepherd (acclaimed)

Division 4 – Dwayne West (224)

Division 5 – Kenneth Weenink (295)

Division 6 – Allan Wilson (329)

Division 7 – Dana Kreil (acclaimed)

FULL RESULTS

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BLACKFALDS

In Blackfalds, Jamie Hoover has been declared mayor elect.

Unofficial results from the town show Hoover received 522 votes, while Wayne Tutty received 507 and Jeff Krehmer earned 376. There’s no word yet on if a recount will be necessary.

“I think in the short term, one significant challenges is people in our community are divided, particularly because of the challenges created by COVID and the restrictions surrounding it,” says Hoover. “As I’m sure you’ve seen, it was a close election for Mayor here in Blackfalds and I have a clear message that people are on different sides of the fence. We’ve had to make decisions that displeases either one group or the other and some of those decisions challenge our mandate to treat everyone in our community with equity.”

Hoover says one of the initial priorities for council will be to come together and try to find ways to close some of those divides.

“In the long term, we’re still a rapidly growing community, with growth rates above the provincial average, so we’re continuing to try and keep up with the infrastructure and service needs for our community,” shares Hoover. “Blackfalds will continue to be a construction zone for the next while with major roadway re-alignment, our arena expansion and opening of the Eagle Builder Center and Servus Public Library, and the central outdoor plaza.”

“All of these projects have been delayed due to COVID-related supply problems,” adds Hoover. “But very soon, those features are going to become prominent parts of our community and I’m excited for the residents to see the benefit that that’s going to bring, not only economic benefits, but major improvement in terms of servicing our needs.”

“Our community is finally going to be getting a high school, and we’ve had the ability to attract six new doctors to our community,” he continues. “Where up until now with regards to schools and healthcare, we’ve been underserved. Also in the long term, Blackfalds is quickly becoming a higher profile and prominent community in central Alberta and I look forward to representing us enthusiastically and with a lot of pride.”

FULL RESULTS

Councillors elected

Marina Appel 673
Brenda Dennis 792
Jim Sands 690
Rebcca Stendie 809
Laura Svab 1,017
Amanda Valin 684

More municipal election coverage is at rdnewsnow.com/municipal-election-2021/.

by Josh Hall and Sheldon Spackman

RESULTS: Lacombe, Lacombe County and Blackfalds

LACOMBE

LACOMBE COUNTY

BLACKFALDS

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