By Shane Clausing

Municipal Election

Kate Potter acclaimed for second term as Sexsmith mayor

Sep 22, 2021 | 2:09 PM

Sexsmith’s Kate Potter has been acclaimed as mayor and will serve another four-year term.

Potter has been mayor since 2018 and began her career on council back in 2017 as a councillor.

Potter tells EverythingGP she’s honoured to be given the opportunity to serve as the town’s mayor once again.

“I really enjoyed my last term. I think we had an effective council and we made some good decisions for the town,” she said.

“I’ve had a lot of support and feedback from the residents encouraging me to run again, so I was happy to put my name in. I’ve been overwhelmed by the support and I’m excited to move forward with another term.”

Potter says as she looks back on the last term, she feels council has done its best to improve their community.

“One of our accomplishments I would say is bringing about the Storm Water Master Plan. That has been on councils agenda for a long time and while construction will happen in 2023, we are coming to the end of all the permitting, approvals, etc. That has been a huge focus for us on council.”

“Another accomplishment I would say is the ICF (Intermunicipal Collaboration Framework) agreement with the County of Grande Prairie and really establishing all of our agreements, so it gives us a jumping point to move forward on,” she explained.

“We really value the collaboration and feel that we’re stronger together when we work together as a region.”

With a new council set to take over following the municipal election on October 18, Potter said there are several things she’d like to accomplish.

“Number one is finishing the Storm Water Master Plan. That has to happen, it’s critical to us to avoid some of the flooding issues we’ve had in the past.”

“Another one is the sustainability assessment for our infrastructure. Continuing to keep taxes affordable, we haven’t had a residential tax increase in the last four years and that’s critical for us,” she said.

“And lastly is economic development. In this last term, we were pushing hard for growth in our business sector and maintaining and building on our reputation of being open for business as a community. That is something I’d love to see moving forward.”

There are seven residents of Sexsmith who will be running for a seat on council in this fall’s election.

A full list can be found at the Town of Sexsmith website. The municipal election is scheduled to take place on October 18.