ATHABASCA – Brian Hall won’t be returning as Athabasca County’s reeve for the final year of his term as a councillor.
At the end of an Oct. 22 special county meeting to discuss the budget process, Hall announced he would be stepping back from the role, which he said he’d had the privilege of serving in since he was elected in 2021.
"As members of council we're here to make change and to leave our organization better than it was before — to work with conviction to make this region better, not just for some, but for all," said Hall, reading from a prepared speech. "We should not be settling for mediocrity and instead striving for excellence. Our time is too short and there's too much to be done to squander our time on trivial matters."
Unlike the Town of Athabasca, where the mayor is an elected position, Athabasca County’s reeve is appointed by the nine councillors. At Thursday’s organizational meeting, councillors will nominate their peers to fill the seat.
"Our time remaining here is short — we're in the last 12 months — and the choice each of us has to make is how to spend it or what positive outcomes we can achieve before the end of the term."
During Hall’s time as reeve, council implemented its strategic plan, focused on inter-municipal collaboration, and building reserves for future projects.
“Brian has always been a very humble leader,” said Coun. Natasha Kapitaniuk. “His fairness and ability to see both sides of the story, while also giving everybody their fair say has been one of the things I’ve admired, and is why our council continued to elect him.”
Over the last year, councillors started to re-legislate a variety of topics, including remuneration, snow removal, and the code of conduct and procedural bylaws, and dealing with an ongoing complaint from Aspen View Public Schools regarding a phone call made by Hall in January.
“Brian has been a good reeve, but we also have a whole eight councillors that could be just as good a reeve. We can bring the team atmosphere back in, and I don’t think there’s a negative to it,” said Coun. Rob Minns.
“Is there a problem with change? No. We’ve always been told that change is good right?”
In a Oct. 26 interview, Hall said he had never set out to be the reeve — but it was a good experience, all things considered.
“Being able to sit as reeve allowed me to have a number of really amazing experiences, to do some really interesting things, and have the great privilege of being able to represent our region in the province, and among our regional leaders,” said Hall.
“There’s a lot of exciting things about Athabasca County, and I got to be the messenger on that.”
Hall didn’t have a favourite moment, or an accomplishment that stood out above everything else. Instead, he said the job satisfaction came from casual conversations with ratepayers, or an unexpected phone call.
“Sometimes, it’s just a phone call from someone where they say, ‘That decision changed my life for the better,’” said Hall, listing the recent changes to snow flags as one example.
“That’s the number one thing, when I talk to my kids and can say, ‘Look at what can be accomplished when you work with others, and you stand up and speak for what you believe in.”
When councillors sit down for the Oct. 31 organizational meeting, they’ll be faced with a tough question: who will be the new leader?
Regardless of who is banging the gavel on Halloween, Hall said he’s hopeful council can work together and focus on what’s important.
“I know I can be effective from any seat at the table, and I look forward to working with council as I have in the past to continue to move our strategic agenda forward,” he said.
“We need to continue to celebrate the main drivers in our economy: agriculture, forestry and energy. We’ve got to continue to work to grow those in the long term.”