Plans don't always work out as originally hoped.
Former Sundre councillor Jodi Orr, who recently submitted her resignation, had wanted to complete her term on council before relocating east of town.
Noting that some of her neighbours had been trying to sell their homes for a year or two, Orr decided to list her property on the market anticipating it would sell at about the time her term ended more than a year from now.
However, within two weeks, she said an offer was made that she simply could not refuse.
"I was very upset that I had to resign from council, but it's something that I had to do," she told the Round Up.
Life carries on, although she said it has been a bit of a "whirlwind" since she had to tender her resignation a few weeks ago.
The former councillor said she had been planning for some time to join her partner of 13 years Doug Darr, who lives less than 10 minutes east of Sundre.
"It just happened so fast," Orr said about the sale and the move.
Her time on council was tough but rewarding, occasionally involving long hours and personal sacrifices, she said.
"I learned a lot, about a lot of things. You have to listen and be willing to compromise and you have to love the job, not for the prestige but for the potential to make a difference, and I hope I made a little bit of difference."
She said she'd miss sitting on the committees she was involved with.
"They were good committees and good people who just wanted to do good for the community."
Being a councillor was a privileged form of public service and Orr expressed her gratitude to the residents of Sundre for the opportunity to serve the community.
"I will miss the challenges and friendships that come with being a town councillor," she said.
"To anyone who is considering running, public service is a duty and if you are willing to serve and are looking for a worthwhile and rewarding way to help your community, I believe you have an obligation to do so."
If Orr finds herself really missing politics, she said she just might consider eventually running for Mountain View County council.
During the April 18 meeting, town council carried a motion to accept her resignation.
"With the resignation of councillor Orr, we are now working on a byelection," said administrator Dave Dubauskas.
The recommended motion before council was threefold: to call a byelection, set a date for the vote and to also set a date for an advanced vote at the Town of Sundre chambers.
Coun. Cheri Funke wanted to know why the motion did not include mobile voting stations for the local seniors' residences.
The administrator said the staff who had organized those in the past felt the service was not well utilized.
"The idea was let's try on a byelection to see if those would be missed before we go on to the next election," said Dubauskas, adding it's certainly an option for council to amend the motion to include the mobile voting stations for seniors.
"I don't know if I agree with us being the ones who decide whether they can vote," said Funke.
"They're still eligible to vote," said Dubauskas.
"Yeah, but they're not going to be able to get here," said Funke.
The administrator said that was "not necessarily true."
Coun. Verna McFadden said the byelection is a good exercise for democracy, "but when you look at our calendar, the person who's going to be elected isn't going to have an awful lot of time on council between summer break and then we have Christmas break. I'm just wondering if it would be better if we waited and it came with an ordinary election."
But because of the timing of the resignation, the Town of Sundre is required as per the Municipal Government Act to hold the byelection, said Dubauskas.
"We don't have an option."
Mayor Terry Leslie took a different view from McFadden and said, "If you get in a year before the next election, you get to learn a great deal. And then in the next election you will have already had ó if you choose to run again and you get elected ó you will have some experience."
Council carried the motions to call the byelection and set an official date as well as an advanced poll. The main election is scheduled for Tuesday, June 21 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at town chambers, while the advanced vote will be held at the same location exactly one week prior on Tuesday, June 14 from noon to 8 p.m.
Anyone interested in running for council can pick up a nomination package on Tuesday, May 10. Those forms must be submitted between 10 a.m. and noon on nomination day, which will be on Tuesday, May 24.
