After retiring from city council in 2007, Neil Korotash is ready for another term at St. Albert Place.
Korotash registered as a candidate in the 2025 municipal election Dec. 15. He served on city council from 2001 to 2007.
He said he plans to roll out his platform over the spring and summer, but one thing is for certain:
“I love this city,” Korotash wrote in an email. “While we may not be the ‘small town’ that St. Albert once was, there is no reason why we can't continue to be the best city in Canada.”
St. Albert improved its place in the recently released 2024 Globe and Mail livability report for cities of 10,000 or more, placing 25th overall and 10th specifically for entrepreneurs.
Now 44, Korotash said he was the youngest councillor ever in St. Albert when elected in 2001. He spent six years in chambers, retiring to start his family, which now includes a pair of teenagers. He has been a teacher with Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools for 20 years and both he and his wife, Kristen Korotash, own businesses in the city. Neil sells cheese at farmers' markets as Lakeside at the Market, Kristen runs the Kinsmen Banquet Centre with her numbered company.
His teaching focuses on science and agriculture and he has coached hockey, ringette, soccer, basketball, organizes a pickleball league and has his thumbs in at least two community gardens.
Korotash said St. Albert’s biggest challenge will be maintaining its consistently high rankings in terms of livable cities in Canada as it experiences rapid growth.
“How do we maintain what makes St. Albert unique as we grow? What are the core pillars that have made St. Albert so successful to date and how do we protect what we've all come to love about this city? (Those) are the questions that keep me up at night.”
This wouldn’t be Korotash’s first return to politics. He garnered 14.75 per cent of the vote for the Alberta Party in the new Morinville-St. Albert riding in 2019, finishing third behind Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Minister Dale Nally and Alberta NDP candidate Natalie Birnie.
Korotash said he will roll his campaign platform out over the spring and summer. He would not specify whether he intends to run for mayor or for a council seat.
“I of course have a vision for how I think we can accomplish that and look forward to sharing that with you and my fellow residents as we get closer to the election.”