Longview councillor nominated to mayor position

A fan of small communities and motorcycles is taking control of the gavel in Longview for the next year in a practice unheard of in Alberta cities and towns.

Motorcycle enthusiast Coun. Carole MacLeod was nominated and accepted the position of Longview’s mayor during village council’s annual organizational meeting last month.

Although not a practice in large centres, some villages in the province opt to alternate the role of mayor amongst each of its councillors. Longview is among them.

“Every year we put it forward and the present mayor usually states he will stay or he won’t or somebody else has been nominated,” said MacLeod. “I’m a councillor like the other two in the village and we all work equally the same.”

MacLeod, known for riding her Harley Davidson along with husband Ron, is taking on the role for at least the next year. She’s been on council for three years and was the former deputy mayor.

“Not a whole lot has changed,” she said. “I chair the meetings, which I didn’t before unless the mayor wasn’t there.”

Longview’s last mayor Cliff Ayres served two years in the position and is now the Village’s deputy mayor. Also on the three-member council is Kathie Wight.

Vicky McGonigle, the Village chief administrative officer, said the option to change mayors comes up every October when council holds its organizational meeting to determine who will sit on which committee.

“Some communities will keep somebody in the mayor’s position and other communities will alternate it to spread the experience around,” she said. “It’s just up to the members of council. Everybody gets the experience of representing their village in that capacity. It kind of puts you front and centre in terms of communication.”

In addition to being in charge of running the council meetings, requesting motions and votes and managing public hearings, McGonigle said the mayor can attend any committee meeting and vote if the council representative is unable to attend.

The mayor also receives correspondence from the municipal government to pass on to council and often attends celebrations in Longview and surrounding communities, she said.

McGonigle said there is no change in pay when a councillor takes on the role of mayor and committee responsibilities are typically even between all councillors.

MacLeod and Ron moved to Longview six years ago from Fort McMurray for the location and sense of community.

“We lived in Calgary before Fort McMurray and we didn’t want to go back into the city,” she said. “We were looking outside of Calgary and this was the perfect distance and we love it here.”

The scenery and terrain also appealed to the MacLeods, both of whom are motorcycle enthusiasts.

“We can go out our front door in any direction,” she said. “A small community is practical for us. Being in the foothills like this and just being that little bit further away from the city.”

MacLeod said she prefers the friendly people and small businesses in Longview to the hustle and bustle of the larger centre.

“We’ve got some good galleries,” she said. “We’ve got some great restaurants. It doesn’t really matter what project is happening you put it out there and volunteers come forward. We just enjoy where we live, we enjoy the scenery and we enjoy the freedom of it.”

Whether MacLeod maintains the title of mayor for a second year or the gavel gets passed on to someone else will be up to council at its organizational meeting in October 2016.