Edmonton – Kim Krushell’s time as an Edmonton city councillor will come to an end on October 22nd.
Krushell has been the Ward 2 councillor since 2004.
She’s made the decision not to seek re-election, but it’s not stopping Krushell from weighing in on the important issues Edmonton’s new council will face.
Krushell says there hasn’t been enough discussion during the campaign about the Municipal Government Act (MGA), which she calls the most important issue for Edmontonians.
“It is a big deal. Because the reason you’re seeing your taxes increase every year is because property taxes are the number one option for city council,” says Krushell. “There’s inequities across this province that need to be addressed on taxation assessment.”
The MGA is one of Alberta’s largest pieces of legislation. It provides the foundation for how municipalities operate, how municipal councils function, and how citizens can work with their municipalities.
The act contains three major areas of focus: governance, planning and development, and assessment and taxation.
The province has opened up the act, allowing municipalities to make suggestions on ways to improve the legislation.
Krushell believes Edmontonians have two candidates – Karen Leibovici and Don Iveson – who can move the city forward in a positive direction.
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“Karen I think has had some challenges in communicating her message. The irony is she’s an incredibly smart lady and she certainly has experience, says Krushell. “Don Iveson has been really good at communicating. He’s a very, you know, bright guy, and I think that that’s coming through.”
Krushell accuses mayoral candidate Kerry Diotte of being “a bit all over the map with some of the issues.” The Ward 2 councillor points at a recent comment by Diotte on the City Centre Airport as an example.
“He was talking about he doesn’t actually want to move forward with redevelopment, but the problem with that of course is that we’ve spent $80 million expropriating,” explains Krushell. “We have lots of investment and liability in that site, and if you don’t redevelop it, you’re not going to recoup your money back.”
Diotte talked about the City Centre Airport during a mayoral forum at MacEwan University on October 8th.
“We don’t know what’s in the ground, we don’t know how much it’s truly going to cost to do. It’s nice to talk about sustainable communities, but let’s talk dollars and cents. We don’t know what it’s going to cost – look at Esso station on Whyte Avenue, it took 20 years to clean that up. So how long is it going to take to clean up an airport that’s so polluted? As I say, it’s gotta be on the back burner,” said Diotte.
As far as the campaigns for city council, Krushell says it’ll be a steep learning curve for new councillors. There will be at least six new councillors on October 22nd. She encourages voters to do their homework before placing their vote.
“You’re looking for people who have experience. I think it’s going to be an important factor because the longer it takes for council to learn the job, the less effective, you know, it’s a time factor.”
Krushell predicts most of the six incumbents – Dave Loken, Ed Gibbons, Tony Caterina, Ben Henderson, Bryan Anderson, and Amarjeet Sohi – will have a good night when the votes are tallied on Monday.
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