SUNDRE – A couple of Sundre council incumbents have expressed their intention to seek re-election in October.
Mayor Richard Warnock said he had already picked up his nomination package and was in the process of ensuring his paperwork meets the requirements pertaining to matters such as criminal record checks and campaign contributions.
The 2025 municipal election will take place in October.
Serving his first term as mayor, Warnock had previously completed a term as a councillor after initially being elected to council in 2017.
The mayor said he wants to see through to completion some major ongoing projects such as the wastewater treatment facility as well as continue the push for a new hospital and rural health-care campus.
Coun. Connie Anderson, who is serving his first term on council, said without hesitation when asked if he planned to run again, “Put me down for a yes.”
But while the remaining five members of council told the Albertan they are thinking about seeking re-election, they all added a lot could change over the next 10 months.
“It’s such a long election time period – it’s just crazy to me that we’re even having this talk in January,” said Coun. Jaime Marr, who is also serving her first term.
“But right now I think comfortably, I’m sitting at 80 per cent confident that I’m running again unless something dramatic happens in my life,” said Marr, adding her family and employer are supportive of another run for council, which represents a huge time commitment.
Coun. Chris Vardas, who had served two terms on council prior to an unsuccessful bid to become mayor in the 2017 election and later came back to win a seat in 2021, said running for a fourth term has certainly crossed his mind.
“But a lot of things can change in a year,” Vardas said, adding he for now was nevertheless leaning towards seeking re-election.
Coun. Owen Petersen, a first-term councillor, told the Albertan he would like to run for a second term but that it is still far too early to say for certain.
“I would like to say how annoying these incredibly long municipal election periods are,” said Petersen, adding he doesn’t plan to submit nomination papers until closer to the election.
“If you’re asking me today, would I like to run in the next election, the answer is yes,” he said. “However, it is 10 months away. I know that life can change quickly in that amount of time. (But) if everything keeps going smoothly the way it’s going in my life, then, yes. I will put my name in again.”
Coun. Paul Isaac, who after first being elected in 2010 is the most veteran member of council now serving his fourth term, said his aspirations for a fifth hinge largely on his health.
Isaac, who late last year had an operation related to complications with cancer, said while he has since been recovering that the process is coming along a bit slower than he’d hoped.
But he also expressed confidence that as he continues to improve, so too will the odds that by this summer “I would make that decision that I would potentially run again.”
Coun. Todd Dalke, who is completing his second term, was the only incumbent who seemed to harbour doubts. But he did not outright dismiss the possibility.
“I don’t know. I was a hard yes before,” said Dalke, adding when asked that he is now sitting closer to 50-50.
“I don’t think I accomplished quite what I wanted to have accomplished, but we’re getting there,” he said.
Asked to elaborate, he mentioned files including water treatment and also said he felt there remains room to improve fiscal responsibility.
“I guess it depends what happens in the next 10 months.”
The nomination period for the Oct. 20 general municipal election opened on Jan. 2, and the deadline to submit the necessary paperwork is noon on Sept. 22.
