Change was one theme at Rocky View County's (RVC) organizational and regular meetings Oct. 27.
Among other decisions at the meetings, Coun. Daniel Henn was appointed by his peers to act as reeve, his first time assuming the role as RVC's Chief Elected Official. Coun. Kim McKylor was named deputy reeve, also for the first time. Council also cemented a change in its composition by approving new electoral boundaries and reducing the number of divisions from nine to seven, guaranteeing at least two current councillors will no longer serve as elected officials following the next municipal election, which will be held a year from now.
We hope all this change marks a new way forward. As Henn himself acknowledged, "there is a little bit of division with this council." For more than a year and a half, sanctions, code of conduct complaints, court cases and in-fighting have at best distracted and at worst gotten in the way of council's ability to make progress on behalf of residents.
In an interview this week, Henn expressed a desire to "get this council working together a little better." We hope that desire is sincere, and we wish him luck in that endeavour. We've observed council carefully in the past two years, eagerly awaiting a shift away from conflict towards co-operation. While division on council generates a lot of news, it ultimately doesn't serve anyone.
We worry that uniting this council will be a tall order, however. In July, former Reeve Greg Boehlke – who held the role since 2015 but refused a nomination for another term – gave our reporters the impression he felt a more likely path forward would come as a result of voters casting ballots in the 2021 municipal election.
Our hope is that council will be able to use this final year of their term to bridge divisions and work together for the good of the County. If not, the election in 2021 will surely bring more change.
