Village of Empress without a council after all three resign

The entire council in the Village of Empress has resigned after months of rumoured infighting following the fall election and changes among senior administrators.

A note on the village website (https://villageofempress.com) dated April 26 tells residents that “the entirety of council has resigned” and a special request has been made to Alberta Municipal Affairs for a special administrator to act on behalf of a council until byelections can be called.

Compounding the confusion, changes come one week after the village’s official email account was hacked and residents were sent reams of spam emails from the address. As well, the village office is closed until May 3 due to a COVID-19 case.

According to the notice, an interim CAO – hired this month after the previous top administrator left in February – will continue on with staff to provide services in the meantime.

Last fall, Mayor Martin Jarvis, and councillors Dan Moslamani and Clint Steinley, were elected to the three-person council.

On April 14, Steinley’s resignation was read out at a council meeting, and that was apparently followed this week by Moslamani and Jarvis.

Some residents of the village of 120 citizens located in Special Areas No. 2, about 50 kilometres south of Oyen, contacted the News looking for more information.