MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - A veteran county councillor has announced he will not be running for re-election this fall after all.
After 17 years on Mountain View County council, Division 7 Coun. Al Kemmere told council during last week’s meeting that he was leaving his seat open for someone new to fill it.
Nominations for the Oct. 18, 2021 election opened Jan. 1. At the time, Kemmere joined current reeve and Division 4 Coun. Bruce Beattie and Division 3 Coun. Duncan Milne in saying he would not be running for re-election.
Then in May, Kemmere said he would seek re-election in part so he could serve as first vice-president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) if he was successful in being elected to that post in June.
“I said if I got elected to that position I would continue on as a councillor because you have to be,” Kemmere told council.
Kemmere was unsuccessful in his bid for the first-vice president position.
He told council he has given re-election a lot of thought over the last few months.
“I just decided that 17 years is an adequate amount for both myself, my wife and for my residents. And I think I owe it to the residents and anybody else that’s interested, to step aside and hopefully new people will step forward,” Kemmere said.
“It’s been great working with everybody,” he said adding he’s going to miss it but “it’s time to step aside.”
His public service began in 2004 when he was elected to serve on Mountain View County council where he continues to serve as Division 7 councillor. Kemmere was elected to the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) board of directors in the fall of 2010 and four years later was elected RMA president, a role he held until the fall of 2020 when he chose to step back. Kemmere began his involvement with FCM in 2007.
