Edmonton needs a leader who will unify us

Mayoral candidate Kim Krushell says she will drive positive change in city

We invited the 11 mayoral candidates running in Edmonton's municipal election to send us an opinion article by Sept. 17, answering the question: “Why should you be mayor of Edmonton?”

Kim Krushell was among those who took us up on the offer.

This is the most critical ballot Edmontonians will cast for the next decade. We're at a pivotal point in time. Our next mayor needs to be able to hit the ground running with the right mix of skills, experience, and spirit to get the job done for our city.

When I left city council in 2013, Edmonton was in good shape. We were getting set to break ground on our new downtown arena, we had closed our municipal airport — paving the way for buildings like Stantec Tower — and our taxes were competitive. We had a plan for ending homelessness, had completed several capital projects, and our city was full of economic optimism.

Edmonton has not reached the potential that I so clearly saw then. Even before the pandemic, we were struggling on capital projects, on the economy, on service delivery. Massive residential and non-residential tax increases are driving residents and businesses outside city limits. Now, the pandemic has made everything worse. If this continues, Edmonton will be a have-not city.

Things need to change.

And I'm the one to lead that change.

Since I launched my campaign, I have been connecting with Edmontonians from across our city. I have been listening and learning. And I am the only candidate with a full platform framework guided by those conversations and my experience from nearly 20 years as a public servant, and eight years as an entrepreneur.

I encourage everyone to visit krushellformayor.com to learn more about my bold and balanced plan for Edmonton — one that's based on our needs and priorities, not on partisan ideologies.

It's a plan that will bring a client-service culture to our city administration. One that will foster economic recovery and generate growth. One that will keep streets safe and clean and will improve construction co-ordination to keep Edmonton moving. It's a plan for Edmonton.

But let's be real: no platform can anticipate everything a mayor and council will face over the next four years, and nor should it.

What I think you really need to know is who I am and what you can expect from me as your next mayor.

That's why I've made important leadership commitments on transparency and accountability, collaboration and team-building, and fiscal and tax management — including holding the line on residential and non-residential taxes for the first two years of my term while we conduct a thorough review of our tax rates and our spending commitments.

Over the last couple of months, voters have had the chance to learn about each of our mayoral candidates. We have candidates who spent time in elected office delivering nothing for Edmonton, who offer platitudes but no substance. We have candidates who would rather bicker than listen. We have candidates who are so committed to catering to narrow, ideological agendas that they're trying to impose a slate of their followers on city hall at the expense of opposing views.

Edmonton can't afford any of that. Our city needs a champion. Competence. Balance. Openness and transparency. True collaboration. Experience. We need a leader who can and will work with all orders of government, whatever their political stripe, to get the very best for our city. A leader with a proven track record of bringing people together and getting things done.

I came to Edmonton 30 years ago for love. But I stayed because I fell in love with Edmonton. I'm optimistic about our city's future. Because with the challenges we face, we also have tremendous opportunities — if we have the courage and knowhow to seize them.

On Oct. 18, our voters have a clear choice to make. I ask you to choose a leader who unifies rather than divides, one who makes decisions based on common sense and not ideology. Choose to vote for something, not against. A vote for Kim Krushell is a vote for Edmonton.