Fresh off her stunning three-vote victory in Oct. 16 Municipal Election, Div. 3 Coun. Lou Hall has made history becoming Westlock County’s first-ever female reeve.
Hall, a first-time councillor, claimed the reeve title after she was the only person to accept a nomination for the job at the county’s Oct. 24 organizational meeting. Couns. Dennis Primeau, Victor Julyan and Brian Coleman were also nominated, but declined.
Hall, who is also only the fifth woman in the history of the municipality to sit as a councillor, is honoured.
“I was a little overwhelmed at first,” she said, adding that being the first female reeve was a strong milestone for both herself and the county. “I have a great group of councillors to work with. I think we’re all on the same page as far as dealing with the matters on the books and moving on to new ideas.”
As reeve, Hall will oversee the county as it deals with a number of challenges, including whether to proceed with the ratepayer decision to sell the Tawatinaw Valley Ski Hill, navigating the aftermath of the Municipal Inspection and dealing with the county’s ongoing issues with roads.
Over the course of the election, Hall said she was repeatedly told by voters that they thought it was important to have a woman in the race.
“I think it’s important that a woman’s voice is heard. Women have a different way of handling some situations than men do,” she said.
“Perhaps that’s why I’m here.”
She also described herself as a collaborative leader.
“I believe in getting everyone’s opinions and respecting those opinions,” she said.
“At the end of the day there is seven of us that make a decision, not just me. We need to work together as a team. We’re seven different councillors from seven different divisions, but we have to have one focus.”
She conceded that she had a pretty steep learning curve ahead of her.
“We have one returning councillor, so we’ll be looking to Coun. (Dennis) Primeau a lot for sure,” she said.
“I believe that things happen for a reason and that I’m the right person at the right time for the right reasons.”
She thanked the voters of Div. 3 and the whole county for the opportunity to serve them and encouraged other women thinking about pursuing public service to put their names forward.
“I encourage women to get into public life. It’s not always an easy one, but at the end of the day changes can happen.”
Meanwhile, Coleman was elected deputy reeve by secret ballot, chosen over Julyan who also let his name stand for the position.
Following, councillors then decided which committees they would sit on and set Nov. 28 as the start date to begin budget deliberations before determining the meeting dates for the upcoming year.
While a few had tossed the idea of moving council meetings to evenings, they voted unanimously for the status quo, which sees them meet twice monthly during the day.
Following the organizational meeting, council immediately began its regular meeting, which was largely an orientation of how the municipality works.
All of the municipality’s senior management team gave presentations on their particular departments and how they operate.
Council then voted unanimously to provide the reeve with a smartphone and to supply all councillors with computer tablets to assist them in their work.
