Municipal Affairs (MA) has deemed a petition signed by more than 5,000 Chestermere residents sufficient for a preliminary review.
The petition, delivered to Minister Danielle Larivee on March 24, asked for a municipal inspection into the actions of Chestermere’s City council. Petitioners were unhappy about rising property taxes and increasing utility rates and felt they weren’t getting clear answers from council, according to Chestermere resident Laurie Bold.
Bold helped spearhead the petition and said she’s glad to see progress.
“I’m happy, I’m relieved…hopefully they’re going to help us figure out what’s going on here,” she said. “There should be some accountability…because there’s been some poor decisions (and) there’s been some mismanagement….”
A letter from Larivee to Bold dated May 26 explained section 572(1)(a)(i) of the provincially legislated Municipal Government Act states a municipal inspection petition must be signed by at least 20 per cent of the municipality’s population, and only by electors.
Chestermere’s petition had 308 signatures that didn’t meet the necessary criteria and had to be excluded, but 5,185 signatures remained valid. Due to population of Chestermere being 18,496 at the time the petition was received, only 3,699 signatures were needed to validate the petition for further review.
In an emailed statement to Rocky View Weekly, Shannon Greer, press secretary for Larivee, said the next step will be determined by a preliminary review into the petitioners’ concerns. The review will be conducted by ministry staff and include, “an analysis of information internal to the ministry and on-site interviews with individual council members, key municipal staff and the petition representative.”
Greer said the preliminary review will begin in July, depending on the availability of interviewees. The review should take about two months to complete and findings will be reported back to the Minister. Larivee has no legislated time frame to make a decision on further actions.
“The purpose of the preliminary review is to determine the underlying reason for the request and to ensure that an appropriate response is taken,” Greer said.
Greer added, conducting a preliminary review after determining the petition’s sufficiency is standard protocol of MA.
“(It) is consistent with actions taken previously regarding petitions in other municipalities,” she said. “The outcome of this review will determine if further action is required.”
Bold said she is hoping the Province will choose to take action against City council.
“If (MA) says ‘you’ve got good government and everything’s fine and ‘sorry (but) it’s the way it is,’ I’m putting a ‘for sale’ sign up. I’m out of here,” she said.
In an emailed statement to Rocky View Weekly, Chestermere Deputy Mayor Gail Smith said council is “eager to move ahead with the review.”
“The City sees this as a positive opportunity to show how we work in an open and transparent manner,” she said. “It is our goal to continue building a strong future for the City of Chestermere.”
