Hello Chestermere,
Last week, I sent out a quick “30 Days in Review.” Thank you to everyone who provided feedback and asked questions. I will now be sending out a weekly update called “This Week in Council.” These updates will reflect the work Council is doing and things that are happening in the city.
I would like to start by once again extending our condolences to the friends and family of the employee from Rocky View County who tragically lost his life this week. We stand in solidarity with Rocky View County and cannot imagine the toll this has taken on county staff. The City of Chestermere is available to assist our colleagues in Rocky View County.
With both the tragedy in Jasper and now the loss of an employee in Rocky View County, I have been reflecting a lot on the role of Council when it comes to leading one’s community. As elected officials, we expect to deal with issues such as taxes, infrastructure, social programming, funding, budgets, etc.—basically, the day-to-day responsibilities of an elected official. None of us come into this expecting to deal with a large portion of our town burning down or the loss of an employee in a shooting. Our thoughts are with Mayor Ireland and Reeve Kissel, their councils, their administrations, and their residents as they navigate and lead through this difficult time.
Thank you to the Multicultural Youth Society of Chestermere for hosting a great soccer tournament this weekend. Deputy Mayor Grant, Councillor Randhawa, and I were all able to attend and help out. Thank you also to the Town of Strathmore for hosting me at their Strathmore Stampede on Sunday. Having our Council members at these events is important for a few reasons. First, it demonstrates our commitment to serving the community. Secondly, it allows us to have conversations with people we might not otherwise have the chance to meet. For example, at the soccer tournament, I had the opportunity to connect with a young lady who wants to find ways to get youth more involved in learning about politics and engaging with our community. We’ve scheduled a meeting for later in August to strategize this. While at the rodeo, I learned that the Town of Strathmore has a question period at their Regular Meetings of Council. As you know, this is something we are bringing back to Chestermere, so I had the opportunity to learn from them how they do it, what is working well, what challenges they face, etc. Networking is key to professional development and making informed decisions.
Council held its first Governance and Priorities Meeting this week. The topics we covered included:
- The 2024 Budget: We are pleased to announce that the city is in a very positive financial position. This topic will be brought back to the August 13 Regular Meeting of Council.
- School Sites: This presentation clearly outlined the process of how a school goes from concept to being built and occupied. It also provided an update on where we are with our 12 school sites. Council and administration are working hard with our developers and school boards to move these sites forward as quickly as possible. Schools are a priority, and we need to get new ones built as soon as we can. We are committed to this process and expect to have more information on the new high school site by the end of August or the beginning of September.
- Update from the Internal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Team: This report included not only the work they have been doing but also upcoming projects. Past projects included interpreter machines at City Hall and the Food Bank, hearing aid enhancers in the Library, and events for Black History Month, International Women’s Day, the Eid Festival, and more.
- Animal Control Bylaw: Council will be conducting a full review of the Animal Control Bylaw. This will be brought back to Council on August 27 for the first reading, at which time we will be scheduling a public hearing. It is important for us to hear from the public on this bylaw, and this will happen through the public hearing process. This particular bylaw needs a lot of work, and we are excited to engage with the public in this process.
For full information on this meeting please click here.
At our Special Meeting, we appointed a new CAO, Kent Edney, who will start on September 1. We are grateful for the work Interim CAO Pat Vincent has done in restoring stability to our organization. Kent is now our long-term solution to help us continue moving Chestermere forward.
Wednesday was filled with a full afternoon of 15-minute meetings with the Mayor. I am really enjoying these meetings as I learn a lot, have the chance to connect with people, hear and address their concerns in a less formal setting, and provide answers to questions. The next set of these meetings is on Monday, August 12, from 9am to noon.
The rest of the week has been filled with several meetings about upcoming projects. Information on this work will be coming soon. You may have noticed that the strategy from this Council is to share information at the appropriate time and through the appropriate channels. This is why we have been utilizing Chestermere.ca and the City of Chestermere Facebook page for updates and information. I will be creating a Mayor Dean Facebook page, which will be used to share information from the city and about events happening in the community.
Thanks, Chestermere. I hope to see you on Saturday at the Music Festival.
– Mayor Dean