Mountain View County Division 7 councillor Al Kemmere has been elected president of the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMDC).
The election came during the association's annual convention in Edmonton on Nov. 19. The 69-community member association advocates for rural community interests with the provincial government.
Kemmere, who has been on the AAMDC board for the past four years, says he plans to continue to advocate for the needs of rural Alberta communities.
“One of the most immediate focus items is the municipal government act review which is underway right now and we've got to make sure rural Alberta's voice is heard in that,” Kemmere told the Gazette.
“Some municipalities want other municipalities to give up some of their linear tax. We need to work our way through that on a provincial basis to make sure the rest of the world understands that, yes counties get tax revenue, but it is now without costs too. Those are the messages we are going to be carrying forward as much as we can.”
Kemmere is the first Mountain View County councillor to be president of the association. He is elected to a two-year term.
Kemmere replaces past-president Bob Barss, who did not seek re-election.
“He (Barss) was great at including everybody in the (association's) work. He would delegate very, very easily and that's the model I want to carry on. He trusted the board and I want to do the same thing going forward,” he said.
As for his position on Mountain View County council, Kemmere says, “My number 1 goal is still to represent my residents as best as I can and to be there for them.
“We'll see how the workload rolls out in the next six months. I shared that with council during our organizational meeting (in October). We are going to do everything as normal and we'll see what the workload ends up being like, and then if we have to make modifications to subcommittee representation we will do that.”
Kemmere thanked his fellow MVC councillors for their support, both during his past time as an AAMDC board member and now as president.
“It is really good to have council backing me through this process. We are pulling in the same direction,” he said.
