A Sundre candidate for council became concerned he could not, if elected, dedicate enough time to the position and thus decided to withdraw from the municipal election.
"I dropped the letter off this morning," Nolan Blatchford told the Round Up on Thursday, Oct. 5, referring to his decision to step down from the race.
However, he is not resigning as a sitting member of the outgoing council and planned to attend his last meeting.
"I'll still come in and finish up my term."
Initially not thinking about running again after being elected during a byelection, Blatchford said he was convinced by supporters to seek another seat at council's table. But upon further reflection, the husband and father who works out of town for 12-14 hours a day said he realized time constraints would prevent him from adequately committing to his council duties.
And although he learned lots during his time on council, Blatchford also expressed frustration with inefficiencies at all levels of politics.
"The waste is just baffling," he said, adding government bureaucracy moves "painfully" slow.
Wishing the remaining council candidates the best of luck on the election trail, Blatchford also encouraged residents to get out and vote.
Sundre's returning officer in charge of the election said although there is a deadline that was passed for candidates to withdraw from the race, Municipal Affairs officials had confirmed when asked that Blatchford could step down.
"They said he could withdraw at any time," Kathy Taylor told the Round Up.
"What we've done is put notes on all of the voting stations that he's withdrawing from the race, because the ballots are all printed."
So while Blatchford's name will appear on the ballots next Monday, Oct. 16, voters will be informed not to vote for him. Selecting his name will not invalidate the ballot, but neither will it count as a vote for Blatchford, she said.
Polling stations will be available at the municipal office from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
