Legal residents got a new leader this week after their current mayor announced he was stepping down to live in Sturgeon County.
Albert St. Jean, 44, stepped down as mayor of Legal at Monday's town council meeting. He will now sit as a councillor. St. Jean has served on the town's council for seven years and has been its mayor for five.
Stepping up to replace him is first-term councillor and teacher Lisa Magera. She won the position by acclamation after being nominated by deputy mayor Ken Baril, with St. Jean seconding the motion. She is the town's 30th mayor, according to historians.
Magera has chaired the town's annual Fête au Village celebration for many years, St. Jean said in an interview, and is amply suited for the mayor's chair. "She's got a strong enough personality to take this on."
Magera said she was looking forward to this new challenge, and planned to focus on drawing more doctors and businesses to the community.
"I'm looking forward to learning from him," she said of St. Jean. "He's leaving our town with a very good reputation."
Moving to the country
St. Jean said his decision was made for family reasons. "We've always wanted to be on an acreage," he explained, and he and his family have decided to move to one next summer. That would make him a resident of Sturgeon County rather than Legal, so he could no longer legally serve on Legal's town council under the Municipal Government Act.
Unlike most communities, Legal residents do not vote directly for a mayor. Instead, they vote for councillors, who then pick a mayor from amongst themselves every October.
That made October a good time for this announcement, St. Jean said, which has been something of an open secret in the community for several months. "I'm just handing it off to someone early so they can work with me for the next few months."
St. Jean said he had accomplished what he set out to do during his three terms in office, and was most proud of his efforts to build the town's skate park and gazebo. "It was lot of fun, and I'm going to miss it, but I'm also looking forward to a different point in my life."
The St. Jean family has been heavily involved in the town's politics since about 1949, St. Jean said, and he still planned to stay connected with the community. He also mused about running for county council or the Progressive Conservatives sometime in the future. For now, he said he planned to finish building his new house and spend some time with his family.
Legal & District Chamber of Commerce president Ernie Chauvet praised St. Jean for his efforts to keep taxes low and promote the town's mural project, noting how St. Jean personally put in much of the physical labour needed to build the town's gazebo. "He loved the community and it showed in what he did."
Legal will hold a by-election to fill St. Jean's seat sometime next year.
