WESTLOCK –The vacant council seat in the Village of Clyde will remain unfilled for the foreseeable future.
Nominations for a byelection in the village opened Feb. 22, following the resignation of Clyde deputy mayor Patricia Hamaluk in early January.
“We didn’t receive any nominations Monday (Feb. 28), or today (March 1) which means that the nominations have closed,” said Ron Cust, chief administrative officer for the Village of Clyde. “We will be reporting to the minister of Municipal Affairs regarding the fact that nobody came forward to run in the byelection, and then he’ll provide instructions to us regarding our next steps.”
Cust said the minister has two options, which include informing the Village of Clyde to proceed for a certain length of time and then call for another election or to proceed to the end of the term with the existing four councillors.
This is believed to be the first time the municipality has found itself in such a predicament, where no one has stepped up to run in a byelection, noted Cust, adding that he could not provide an explanation as to why no one put forth nomination papers to run, but did give a general reason why residents often choose not to.
“The times that that occurs is it’s too stressful or too nasty a situation to become involved in or people are comfortable with the management that’s in place, the governance, and the services they are receiving,” he said.
In the meantime, the three area municipalities, including Westlock County, the Town of Westlock and the Village of Clyde, will continue working together and meet regularly to discuss any issues or areas that affect the entire region.
“That’s what we’ve heard from our residents. That’s the kind of thing they want to know,” explained Cust. “They want to know that we’re part of the bigger picture. We’re not trying to run some little show by ourselves within our own village.”
Cust noted that both council and area residents are focused on opportunities related to activities for children and younger people, pointing to such things as the skating rink and a grant proposal to acquire funding for a frisbee golf course.
“We’re focusing on taking care of the infrastructure, which we have been, but also taking care of those other things that make a community,” said Cust.
Kristine Jean, TownandCountryToday.com
