(Supplied/Cindy Jefferies)

By Josh Hall | @Vancan19

collaborative approach to hard issues

Long-time Red Deer city councillor, Cindy Jefferies, again seeking mayor’s chair

Jul 22, 2025 | 3:10 PM

Cindy Jefferies is seeking her fifth term on Red Deer city council this fall, but this time, she’s eyeing the mayor’s seat.

Jefferies, thus far the only woman in the running, was first elected in 1995, when she began nine years as a local school board trustee.

She was then elected to council for the first time in 2004, was re-elected in 2007 and 2010, and then she ran for mayor against Tara Veer in 2013, losing by a slim margin of about 1,400 votes.

She was elected again to council in 2021, garnering the second most votes of any candidate.

“[Wanting to be mayor] goes back to years of putting in time and trying to build community. Probably the last 10 years, maybe a little longer, I think Red Deer, with it’s great potential, has sometimes missed the mark,” says Jefferies, who first moved to Red Deer in 1978.

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“I think we seem to be sitting in neutral and missing great opportunities from time to time, but I do feel a lot of great things are coming together. We’ve got the ad hoc economic development committee, and there are lots of pockets of things happening here that are really showing the potential of Red Deer.”

“There’s more happening that meets the eye,” she adds.

Jefferies’ goal is to be a champion for Red Deer, and one that will give a boost to economic development.

As for voters who think council needs a completely new face, Jefferies says she brings a leadership style and list of community connections she’d put up against anyone.

“I can appreciate that people think we need new faces. There are some challenges in our city, whether it’s homelessness, downtown, development issues, people are a little frustrated and maybe want that new face. The context of some of those challenges is very real and perhaps not been communicated well enough to those outside the council circle,” she says.

“Having those kinds of conversations and talking about some of the real challenges and constraints around some of what we face is really important. Together, we can make changes, we can move those things along, but we’re not going to do it if we divide community. I’m a very collaborative leader, and we need to have some of those hard conversations.”

Jefferies is up against councillors Lawrence Lee and Victor Doerksen, as well as challengers Gareth Scott, John Gallagher and Avery Robinson.

The municipal election is set for Oct. 20.

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READ MORE

• First-time candidate Avery Robinson says he’s up for challenge of Red Deer mayor’s chair
• Red Deer City Councillor Lawrence Lee running for mayor in 2025 election
• Red Deer city councillor Victor Doerksen running for mayor in municipal election
• Red Deer businessman Gareth Scott vying for mayor’s seat
• Long-time Red Deer city councillor, Cindy Jefferies, again seeking mayor’s chair