Nomination day for the 2018 municipal election was this morning (Monday, September 18th), with nominees having from 8am until noon to submit their paperwork.

Here in Lacombe, there are two names on the ballot for mayor, along with eleven vying for seats on council, including 6 who are seeking reflection.

Peter Bouwsema and Grant Creasey are seeking the Mayor's Chair, whereas Wayne Armishaw, Reuben Konnik, Bill McQuesten and Wayne Rempel are all looking to return to City Council.Meanwhile, Sandy Douglas, Don Gullekson, Chris Ross, Cora Hoekstra, Jonathan Jacobson, Thalia Hibbs, and Joyce Smith are all trying to earn a seat on council. 

The two men, both with past Council experience, who are vying for the Mayor's chair, are Peter Bouwsema and Grant Creasey. It's Bouwsema's first mayoral campaign, and he has one top priority if elected.

“To get away from our heavy reliance on our residential tax base, and encourage more commercial to come to the city. I do have a plan that will encourage that to happen.”

Creasey narrowly lost out to Steve Christie in the last election. He says his ideals have not changed and he'll continue to campaign on some priorities he's held on to since last serving on Council

“Some changes to the way our government operates, and the way the council interacts with the community. I’m hopeful that people have come to the realization that it’s time for some positive changes within our city, and I’m the agent who will bring those about.”

Among the newcomers is Thalia Hibbs, who has served for 7 years on the board of Trustees for St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic School. She was more than ready to submit her forms.

“Feels like it’s kind of been a long time coming. I announced very early, I did that on purpose because I wanted to get my name out there so that we could have those conversations and I’ve definitely been having those. But finally making it official, submitting that paperwork feels pretty good.”

Also running for council for the 2nd time is Chris Ross, who has been involved with the City’s Traffic Advisory Committee, and currently involved with Lacombe Recreation and Culture.

He says he plans on building off the experience from his previous run, and hopes to be able to work together with a newer looking council than last time.

“I really look forward to being a part of the new CAO, and putting the right people together to make the connections and build some relationships, so we can move Lacombe forward.”

Sandy Douglas is also taking his second crack at running for council, being the first one to submit his forms this morning.

He says he doesn’t plan on putting up any signs, saying that he is counting on his local last name, his experience in the community, and the strength of his message.

“I was met with reasonably good approval last time, and I received quite a few votes, and I believe that I’ll receive at least as many this time. I’m doing no signs, I don’t believe in signs, good for everyone else that does, that’s their choice, I don’t.”

Another new contender for council is former citizen of the year Don Gullekson, who has been heavily involved in the community for years, and he wants to make a bigger impact now.

“Well I wanted to give back to the community…I’ve done a lot of volunteer work and it’s an opportunity to do a little extra. And the west end development is very important to me, I’ve been a proponent of that for many years.”

Cora Hoekstra, who has worked with the Parent Link Centre for the past 12 years, is also vying for a council seat for the first time.

She says she saw this as an opportunity to help out more in the community.

“Probably because I’ve always been civically minded. I’m a volunteer, and I’ve been active in the community, and I saw this as a natural next step that I could be more involved in the decision making process of the city. I know quite a few people in the city, and I would like to work for them.”

Jonathan Jacobson, a graduate of Burman University, and former campaign manager for Steve Christie 4 years ago, and campaign manager of Peter Bouwsema’s campaign 7 years ago. 

With a long time interest in politics, Jacobson says this year everything lined up to make it possible for him to run.

“I’ve always been interested in politics ever since I was a little kid. For the last about fifteen years thought that I would like to take a stab at public office at some point. Why this year? Everything was just lined up with what I’m doing personally and professionally, making it a good time for us to do this.” 

At 35, Jacobson is the youngest person on the ballot. Brandon von Gunten, who is also 35, expressed his intentions to run, but did not file any nomination papers today. 

Reuben Konnik, who is seeking a third term as councillor, says now that the City has some land open on the West end, he hopes to be able to pursued business to come to Lacombe.


“One of the things we gotta do is grab the bull by the horns and really try to get some commercial development here in town. We have the land now, we didn’t have that before, so there is no more excuses, so I think we really need to go hard on that and reach out the Wal-Marts of the world, and say listen, these are the reasons you need to come to Lacombe and you need to come now.”

Also hoping to serve a third term is Wayne Rempel, who hopes to keep his council momentum moving forward by attracting new business to town.

“I’m kind of building on what we’ve been doing the last few terms, which is trying to bring in some more commercial development, bring in some more industry here, trying to level that out so our residential taxes can remain as low as possible.”

Bill McQuesten is also seeking re-election, serving on and off for a total of 13 years in the last 20, even serving a term as mayor.

He says he hopes to focus on two areas this time, the west end development and paying down debt.

“We’ve always been a fiscally responsible community, and for the next ten years, we are looking at paying down our debt. So it’s not going to be anything really exciting or sexy, but it’ll just be business as usual and make sure things get done, keep up with the demand of the citizens.”

Joyce Smith, a former Mayor of Caroline was a bit of a surprise announcement today as she submitted her forms for a council position.

Smith says she wanted to ensure there was a voice on council for seniors.

“I don’t plan on putting a bunch of placards or anything out. As long as the seniors know I’m there for them, that’s all that matters. And I do know the avenues you can take for support cause it’s there. But when people choose not to use it, and use their own opinions, then it makes it very difficult for people to have the respect and dignity that they need to have.”

For a complete unofficial list of all nominees for Lacombe, Red Deer, Sylvan Lake and other communities near you, you can go to the Election Central page. 

Nominees still have 24 hours to withdraw their names from the time they submitted them.

Albertans go to the polls on October 16th.