A decent race is shaping up in the M.D. of Lesser Slave River, where nine candidates are duking it out for six council seats. The position of reeve, on the other hand, goes by acclamation to incumbent Denny Garratt.
Reached by phone shortly after the nominations closed, Garratt did not seem surprised he was the only mayoral candidate and offered his best wishes to all the council candidates.
“Whoever wins is going to have their (work) cut out for them,” he said.
For election purposes, the M.D. is divided into two zones, each allotted three council seats. In the east, five people are contesting those seats, including the two incumbents from Flatbush – Tim Walmsley and Murray Kerik. Walmsley is seeking a third term; Kerik his second.
The other three are former councillor Debbie Parsons and newcomers Garry Horton and Nora Eben – all from the Smith area. Horton’s main interest is the state of the roads. Eben expresses a similar interest, saying that she wants “to be a strong voice for the people that vote me in.”
“I wish everybody the best of luck,” Garratt says, noting that there are, “some very large projects and hard decisions,” awaiting the new council.
“I see the time commitment being even greater than it has been in the past.”
Council could end up having four new (or at least new-ish) faces. At the other extreme, it could see six of the seven members (including the reeve) of the current council returning.
For those unable to vote on Oct. 15, advance voting will be held on Oct. 9 from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at four locations. For information, contact the Municipal disrict. office at 849-4888 or look on the M.D. page on Page 27 of this paper.

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