Former mayor top vote getter to join new faces on council

By Dale Woodard on October 19, 2021.

Four new faces have been named to Lethbridge City Council.
As the final numbers were crunched on the City of Lethbridge 2021 election, Rajko Dodic, Jenn Schmidt-Rempel, John Middleton-Hope and Nick Paladino will join incumbents Belinda Crowson, Ryan Parker, Mark Campbell and Jeff Carlson.
A former Lethbridge mayor, Dodic topped the City Council voting with 7.32 per cent of the votes at 12,079.
“It’s pretty exciting,” said Dodic. “It took a while for the results to come in, but of course it was very good when they did come in. So I congratulate everyone who was successful, but I also congratulate everyone who ran, even if they didn’t get a spot.”
This year’s election was made stranger by the COVID-19 pandemic, said Dodic.
“So you had very few forums, a ton of surveys and a lot of social distancing. You’re doing meet and greets, for example, at Nord-Bridge Senior Centre or at LSCO Seniors Centre. It’s masks and (being) properly distanced even though there was a requirement for double vaccination to attend those events. So it was a bit surreal doing it during the fourth wave, no doubt about that.”
Dodic said the key issues moving forward are making sure the COVID response continues as well as addressing the talk of a third bridge in the city.
“There was a little disconnect a while back between what the province was doing and what the City was doing,” he said of the pandemic response. “Now everyone seems to be on the same page. Of course it’s something you really want to monitor.”
Dodic said noted citizens have voted they’re in favour of a third bridge in Lethbridge.
“Now it’s really time to have a look at it and crunch numbers and be able to identify what that looks like in terms of cost. Because that would have to be primarily funded through tax payer money. It’s not a project that the province would likely contribute to because it’s wholly within the city. At least that’s what former ministers of transportation used to tell us 10 years ago, anyways.”
Having served before, Dodic said he’ll be able to transition seamlessly into his City Council role.
The faces, however, have changed.
“This is going to a whole new group of people who may not have had any chance to really discuss the issues with,” he said. “The only returning members I’m familiar with from my past stint would be Ryan Parker and Jeff Carlson. So I’m looking forward to meeting the new group and we’ll see where we stand on issues. I’m sure it’s going to be raucous at times, but hopefully we’ll make the good decisions.”
Dodic’s election to City Council Monday took on a personal meaning for him as he paid his respects to former Lethbridge MLA and cabinet member Clint Dunford.
“Today was a very great moment for me, but I wanted to share it with my good friend who passed away on Thursday,” he said. “Clint Dunford and (wife) Gwen were so supportive of me and I know they wanted to share this evening with me. But unfortunately because of his passing on Thursday it was not to be.”
Middleton-Hope was grateful for the opportunity to get out and speak to people face-to-face.
“We did over 3,500 door knocks and over 15,000 contacts with people in the city. It was great,” said Middleton-Hope, who captured 6.09 per cent of the vote. “Although I’m a senior we got a chance to go to 12 super seniors centres and meet with folks. We had a really great opportunity to learn what their concerns are and their hopes and aspirations are for the city. Whether you’re 18 or whether you’re 88, we all have aspirations for the city.”
Having grabbed 6.34 per cent of the vote, Schmidt-Rempel was grateful for the local support.
“I just can’t say how much I thank residents of the City of Lethbridge for trusting me, for having faith in me and supporting me. It’s overwhelming,” she said. “We worked so hard, and we really listened to what people had to say. And people said they felt disconnected. So we really focused on wanting to communicate what my ideas were, and hearing what the people of Lethbridge had to say. We really built my whole campaign around that.”
Schmidt-Rempel said city safety and getting through the rest of COVID are the short term keys.
“But really what I want to look forward to is how we can set ourselves up for success over the next four years, particularly around economic development and really around regionalization and presenting ourselves as a region to the rest of Alberta and the rest of Canada.”
Paladino took in 4.80 per cent of the vote to earn his City Council spot.
“It’s obviously satisfying. It was a tough last four months. It was up and down as you could tell my by the numbers,” he said.
Going forward, Paladino said economic development addressing the social issues downtown and throughout the city remain the issues to be addressed.
“I think the voters have actually elected a pretty good team to address both of those issues.”

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