Vauxhall council may have fewer seats

By Cole Parkinson

Vauxhall Advance

cparkinson@tabertimes.com

The Town of Vauxhall remains two members short for their seven member town council.

With the nomination day (Sept. 18) long since past, the town is still hoping for two community members to throw their names into the ring as election day nears. Only incumbents Margaret Plumtree, Richard Phillips, Marilyn Forchuk, Kim Cawley and Linda English have stepped forward to be on town council. Due to the less-than-stellar turnout for council members, the town has sent an email to Municipal Affairs to question whether or not they could move forward with a council of five.

“The five names are in there and the nominations are closed. We sent out a letter to the Minster of Municipal Affairs, so we have insufficient nominations. So now we wait to hear from the minster with a decision whether they stop it at five or they make us wait and continue receiving nominations, but I’m not sure when they’ll decide,” said town returning officer Cris Burns.

Vauxhall has a history of not receiving enough candidates and with the town experiencing it again, they hope Municipal Affairs makes the best call.

No timeline has been set for when Municipal Affairs may respond and Burns says all they can do now is wait.

“I just sent the email on Monday (Sept. 25) at 12:10 p.m. and now we’re just waiting. I did add a PDF of the last Vauxhall Advance which had an article in there so maybe that will help them make a decision with a little bit of history, you never know.”

While dropping down to five councillors may solve Vauxhall’s issues, there are still concerns with having less voices and opinions in town office.

“The positives are we have five, the negatives to me are the more the merrier, you have a broader spectrum of thinking. I don’t have a problem with a council of 21, that means you have a way more diversity but it’s not common,” said Burns. “The less number of council members, it’s easier for a small group to dictate council which is my worries. That’s my personal opinion, it may work for council either way.”

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