And then there were 10
Robert Dumanowski’s re-election campaign announcement brings those seeking nine spots on Medicine Hat city council to 10.
Council members Ted Clugston, Les Pearson, Jim Turner and Brian Varga have formally registered to seek reelection, while Bill Cocks has said he will run, but does not yet appear to have registered with the city clerk. That is required before candidates can fundraise or spend money on campaigns.
Former alderman Phil Turnbull and Jim Black, who sought out a seat in 2013, are registered, as are newcomers Charles Mittelholtz Turner and Myles Mulholland.
Clugston announced in January he would seek a second term as Mayor.
The registry only denotes a candidate is seeking a seat on council, but not what position, either mayor or councillor.
Robert Dumanowski will seek a sixth term as a city councillor when Hatters go to the polls this October, he told reporters at city hall on Wednesday, stating that while he’s been in local government a long time, he still sees a role for himself.
“After 16 years in the position it behooves anyone to examine their future roles and responsibilities and what they would be in the future,” said Dumanowski during a small press event in the councillors’ lounge.
“I never got into this because I had a single agenda. I got into it because I believed in giving back to the community.”
Dumanowski, first elected as a 30-year-old candidate in 2001, was returned to council in the last election with the highest number of votes in Medicine Hat’s top-eight voting system.
He has chaired corporate services as well as the development and infrastructure committees during the current term, as the city grappled with a major revenue shortfall from the utility division and launched a far reaching budget review known as Financially Fit.
“That gave me an opportunity to reflect on all the decisions over my time,” he said.
“You can’t go back in time, but I’m proud of my accomplishments during this term and my contribution to this community.”
Near the end of the last term he was a major proponent of the city's berming program.
To see flood mitigation progress is a highlight, he has said, along with the budget review resulting in cuts mixed with new income totalling about $7 million next year.
He told reporters on Wednesday that a key issue in the next four years will be asset management (including a program to replace aging roads, sewers and sidewalks that his committee approved), as well as continued containment of the city’s budget.
“There’s a level of restraint and we’ve set that course, but it would be easy for the next council to stray from that.”
In private life he is a principal with the Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education. He and his wife Pam have four school-aged children.
He joins nine others declaring they will stand as candidates for Oct. 16’s election.