County council seats to be decided today

City council candidates have raised plenty of issues in Lethbridge. But just one issue seems to be front and centre in Lethbridge County. Livestock feeding operators north of the city remain opposed to the county’s new levy, created to maintain highway truck access to Feedlot Alley.

“I think the biggest issue has been the business tax,” says Reeve Lorne Hickey.

County council says the operators should pay their share of the costs of maintaining the bridges and roadways that serve the intensive livestock businesses. Taxes are based on how many animals are being fed.

“If we eliminated the tax, that cost would be put onto the shoulders of everybody,” says Hickey, who’s standing for re-election today.

Though he’s been returned by acclamation in some elections, Hickey is facing three challengers in his electoral division, south of the city. So is the incumbent councillor in Division 6, an area that includes many feedlots.

But despite council’s decision to collect the tax, three county council members have been declared elected by acclamation. Councillor Ken Benson will continue to represent voters in Division 4, Steve Campbell in Div. 5 and Morris Zeinstra in Div. 7.

Now seeking his seventh term representing Div. 1, Hickey has also been elected reeve by his fellow councillors for a number of terms. Though he’s been elected by acclamation some years, he’s facing three challengers this time: Greg Farries, Jack Peterson and Mark Vaselenak.

Div. 6 incumbent Tom White is also opposed by three candidates — Roxanne Adams, Klaas Vander Veen and Tony Wolak — north of the city.

Coun. John Willms is not seeking reelection in Div. 2, leaving the seat open for Tory Campbell, Mark Hranac or Michael Willms. In the county’s only other contest, Bob Horvath is challenging Deputy Reeve Henry Doeve in Div. 3.

So far, county voters haven’t shown increased interest. Hickey reports 30 to 35 voters came out to the county’s advance poll for the four contested seats.

“I think that’s pretty close to normal,” he says.

In his own division, Hickey says less than 30 voters attended an allcandidates forum at McNally. He says the four-way contest in Div. 6 drew about 30.

The reeve is hoping for a stronger turnout today. The last time he faced a challenger, he recalls, he won with 260 votes in a division with about 1,800 people — not all of them voting age.

But municipal politicians know upsets can happen, Hickey adds. In the late 1990s, he says, county electors placed five new faces on the sevenmember council.

“If you don’t look after the people you represent, something’s going to happen.”