There was little disagreement among the candidates on the major issues facing both Westlock County and Pembina Hills Public Schools during an Oct. 5 forum at the Busby Community Hall.
Just shy of 40 residents asked county Div. 2 candidates Lavern Bazin and Jared Stitsen and PHPS trustee hopefuls Ken Mead and Jackie Carson their take on the Tawatinaw ski hill, the county’s crime rate, regional collaboration, communication with ratepayers and the ongoing issues with staff turnover at PHPS.
“They obviously did their research,” said resident Adam Esch. “It’s good that no one’s getting in by acclamation and there’s actually some discussions.”
Both Stitsen and Bazin agreed that county council meetings needed to be moved to evenings to make them more accessible to the public.
Both also agreed it would be prudent to look into hiring a second peace officer to deal with property crime issues. The closest the candidates came to a disagreement was on the ski hill, where Stitsen said he would follow the decision of the voters and Bazin stood undecided, pointing out the value of recreation to the county.
“Anything that gets kids away from the computer screen is good,” said Bazin.
Carson and Mead were in agreement that PHPS needed to better communicate with parents about its decision-making, that transportation to school and back took too long and that school staff needed to know the board had their back.
“We don’t need teachers looking over their shoulders,” said Mead.
Stop the bickering
One area both county candidates saw room for improvement on was with regional collaboration.
Bazin noted that currently Westlock County, the Town of Westlock and Village of Clyde were often doubling up on services and the inter-municipal bickering was leading to extra expenses.
He pointed out that the situation was getting so bad the province was bringing in amended Municipal Government Act legislation requiring municipalities to demonstrate that they’re working together to access certain grants.
“How bad is it that they have to legislate co-operation?” he wondered aloud.
Stitsen concurred, saying that between arguments on funding to storage of equipment a lot of bad blood had been built up between the three governments over the last few years. He argued it was time to wipe the slate clean.
“Everyone wanted the ball in his or her court,” he said. “We may have to give some to get some.”
PHPS did due diligence
When faced with questions on the firing of Supt. Colleen Symyrozum-Watt, both Carson and Mead said they felt the board handled the situation as well as it could have.
Pointing out that the case was still being investigated, Carson said she did not feel it was fair to comment on the specifics of a case.
“(The board) recognized the need for due diligence,” she said. “They got proposals from recruiting firms, there was a detailed hiring process. The school board is protecting the rights and privacy of people who came forward.”
Mead agreed, saying that the decision is out of the board’s hands and the next board’s responsibility is to follow the recommendations made by consulting firm Meyers Norris Penny.
A bright future ahead
Watching the forum from the back of the room, outgoing division 2 Coun. Albert St. Louis said he was impressed with all the candidates and figured the division would be in good hands in either case.
“I thought it was awesome,” he said. “It was a well-run forum with lots of good ideas. I just hope they can implement them and that council learns to work together.”
Overall, the forum was very well-received by attendees.
“I’m glad we had the opportunity. I didn’t know who I was going to vote for before,” said resident Tina Viney. “I think the questions were really good. The way the candidates responded, you could tell whether they knew what they were talking about or if they were listening to the question.”
Others said they would have a difficult time deciding between the candidates.
“(The forum) made my decision a bit harder,” said resident John Gibbons. “They’re all good candidates. It’s a good problem to have.”
