Ward residency shouldn’t be issue
Ideas, vision trump where candidate lives
How important is it for a politician to actually live in the area he or she represents?
This is becoming a major question of the 2013 civic election. It’s partly because there are so many sitting councillors who live outside their wards, but also because a prominent ex-councillor, Mike Nickel, who lives in southwest Edmonton, is running in Kerry Diotte’s old ward, which stretches through south central Edmonton from Mill Woods to Whyte Avenue.
More than half of the current councillors don’t live in their wards, mainly because in 2010 the city divided up its six large wards into 12 smaller ones. In the 2010 civic election, a number of councillors, Ben Henderson, Tony Caterina, Bryan Anderson, ran in new wards that were part of their old wards, but where they do not now live.
A few other councillors, Don Iveson and Dave Loken, ran in wards they live close to, but not actually in.
Two councillors, Diotte and Linda Sloan, used to live in their wards, but Diotte now lives in Riverbend, while Sloan lives downtown in Oliver and represents west Edmonton.
Diotte defends his move, saying it’s crucial to know the ward’s issues and community leaders, but it’s not paramount to live there.
There hasn’t been a public outcry about the residency issue in recent years, but it’s building. When I surveyed council candidates on Twitter, the vast majority said it’s crucial to live in your ward.
Says Coun. Amarjeet Sohi: “Proximity to the people one represents is critical.”
And store manager Andrew Knack, who is running in Ward 1 against Sloan: “It’s very important to live in the ward you are trying to represent as it provides a level of insight that you wouldn’t have if you aren’t experiencing the issues first-hand.”
And Bev Esslinger, the former chairwoman of the Edmonton public school board, a Ward 2 candidate, says: “It’s very important as it helps you understand your community and keeps you connected and is where you are involved!”
Adds community organizer Michael Walters, a Ward 10 candidate: “It’s important to live in the ward but more important to have a record of effective leadership in the ward.”
To me, effective leadership is key. Just because you live in a ward doesn’t make you a better candidate than someone who does not. We all live in Edmonton, and much of the job is representing the entire city. It’s your experience, platform, character and political skill that matter most.
In that regard, Nickel, 48, has got experience as a businessman and as a councillor.
Nickel says he hadn’t planned to run again, but has deep roots in Mill Woods. His family farm used to be where the Grey Nuns is and he went to junior high in the area. With Diotte not running, Nickel says old friends in the area encouraged him to “come home” and run. He’s not planning to move there if he wins, as his children are rooted in their current neighbourhood, but Nickel hasn’t found this to be an issue.
“I haven’t had one person at the door who has raised (residency) as a major objection ... Voters are just looking for competent representation, people with the skill sets to actually move things forward.”
Nonetheless, Nickel faces an uphill battle, I suspect. The closest comparison is the challenge that public relations consultant Scott McKeen faced in the 2010 election, where he lost to Caterina.
McKeen (full disclosure: an old friend and Journal colleague) ran in a northeast Edmonton ward, where he grew up and lived as an adult, but didn’t live there at that time, having moved downtown. McKeen found his residency was a major issue with some voters.
In the 2013 election, McKeen is running where he lives, in the city centre. He doesn’t face the residency issue and might also find he’s a better fit with voters, as his strong advocacy for revitalizing the downtown is more in line with city centre priorities.
“I made a mistake in 2010,” he says. “I didn’t fully appreciate how important (residency) was to people.
“If you’re not running in your home territory, your home ward, why are you running? That’s what you have to explain to people. To me the only real credible answer to that is, ‘My mix of ideas and experience are, I believe, valuable to the city.’ ”
Agreed. And this is the question Nickel and others will face this election.
Nickel, at least, has a good answer. He’s a credible candidate.