A little under two months after announcing she will not seek re-election, St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron has endorsed Coun. Wes Brodhead in St. Albert's mayoral race.
Heron announced in June she would not seek re-election as mayor. Since then, Brodhead entered the race and is the only incumbent so far to make a bid for the mayor's seat. Scott Olivieri, Sturgeon Community Hospital Foundation Board chair, is the other mayoral candidate.
Heron's relationship with Brodhead goes back 15 years, when both were elected to council in 2010.
"It's because I have worked with Wes that I know him very well, and I've watched him wrestle and struggle with various decisions over the last 15 years," Heron said. "I know he'll be great."
She said in their time on St. Albert council together, she has seen him have to make decisions that councillors aren't prepared to make.
"You can always campaign on lowering taxes, and building responsibly and protecting the environment," she said. "Everyone's candidate brochure looks quite similar. But no one's candidate brochure in 2017 said, 'I will fight a pandemic with compassion.' So, I've seen Wes take on some of those unexpected events and handle those situations really well."
She said another factor in her endorsement of Brodhead is his incumbency. Heron said she believes it's good for municipal politicians to cut their teeth on council before trying for mayor. Going into the next term, St. Albert will be negotiating inter-municipal agreements with Sturgeon County, as well as having conversations with other mayors about regional collaboration.
"If Wes is successful, he'll be able to jump right into the role," Heron said. "He'll be able to run a meeting with experience, he already has relationships in the region, which are really important."
Other incumbents remain undecided
While some incumbents have announced their plans for October's election — Coun. Ken MacKay is seeking a third term on council and Coun. Natalie Joly announced in 2023 that she would not run for a third term — there are a few yet to decide.
Coun. Mike Killick said he's not sure what his plans are for the upcoming election, and is waiting until late August to discuss it with his wife, when they'll make a joint decision.
He said that he has loved his four years as a councillor, but thinks with the job designation changing to full time and a 32 per cent pay increase kicking in, residents will and should expect more from those in the position and he wants to take the time to make sure he's willing to make that commitment.
"Four years is a big commitment and full time is a big commitment," Killick said. "Being away and participating in the community makes it very tough, you absolutely have to have your partner's support 100 per cent. We need to make that decision together."
Likewise, Coun. Sheena Hughes said although it might seem unbelievable, she remains undecided. In 2021, Hughes waited until the September deadline to declare she would run again.
Having been on council for 12 years, Hughes also cited the time commitment as the biggest factor for her.
"I'm just aware of what a four-year commitment looks like and I'm not getting any younger," Hughes said. "I try not to make a pre-emptive decision until I'm ready to decide if I'm ready to commit again to that."
As of July 25, Coun. Shelley Biermanski had registered as a candidate, although at the time of writing has not officially declared whether she is running for councillor or mayor. The Gazette reached out to Biermanski for comment, but did not receive a response by press time.
