With the election over, we are now getting right into our new role. On Friday we picked up our Town Council orientation binders and on Saturday the new mayor and council attended the Chamber of Commerce Davis Awards on Saturday night--our first public event since being elected. It felt a little odd to be a local "celebrity" all of a sudden! The evening was a lot of fun and I was very impressed with the talents of the local residents who did such a great job of bringing a Grammy Awards feel to the evening.
Tonight the serious stuff starts--we'll learn how to use the computers in the Council Chambers, and then get sworn in before participating in our first council meeting. The agenda and supporting documents are available on the Town's website at: http://www.peaceriver.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={18E34156-0336-40DA-8043-979F6075210E}
On Friday, November 2, we will attend a full-day orientation session done by Alberta Municipal Affairs in Grimshaw on "Relationships, Roles and Responsibilities." This will give us a great opportunity to meet other new councillors in the region along with receiving training in our new role.
Later in November (28-30), we'll attend the AUMA (Alberta Urban Municipalities Association) annual convention and AMSC Trade Show in Calgary. New councillors can attend a full day session on Wednesday called "So I've Been Elected, Now What Do I Do?" I'm looking forward to meeting new councillors from all over Alberta and learning more about this new job I've taken on.
Sessions on Thursday include a wide variety topics that I'm interested in. We can choose from sessions on sustainable community infrastructure, partnering, risk assessment, reducing energy costs, climate change adaptation, a small communities symposium and increasing women's participation in municipal government.
On Friday, we can choose from sessions on regional challenges, sustaining the land resource, the Rural Alberta Development Fund, working effectively with Aboriginal groups, affordable housing, and being a good councillor. The full program can be viewed on the AUMA website at: http://www.auma.ab.ca/live/MuniLink/Convention/2007+Convention
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