All members of Coaldale town council to run again
By Lethbridge Herald on April 23, 2025.
Alexandra Noad
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Coaldale town council has collectively announced that all seven members will be re-running for the upcoming election happening in late October.
Historically, members of council would announce their status individually. But Mayor Jack Van Rijn says the council decided to unanimously announce their status for the upcoming election as a way to send a message to the residents of how well the council is able to work together to make decisions.
“We thought this would send a strong message to our residents that we have a very cohesive council and we wish to serve the residents another four years,” says Van Rijn.
He believes that the council stood out amongst others because of their willingness to put aside their differences after a motion was past.
Van Rijn says each council member is entitled to their opinions and even encouraged to voice them during meetings, once a decision has been made, they are able to move on no matter their own personal stance on the matter.
“One thing our council is very good at is, whether we agree with the decision or not, we gather the troops and have a unified position moving forward, no matter what the topic was.”
Being able to put aside differences and be unified with the communities best interest at heart is critical for a successful council, Van Rijn added.
On top of a successful term for council, he gave a lot of credit to the administration team which he says makes town council’s life a lot easier especially when it comes to projects and investments for the town.
“They provide us all the information that is required to make an educated decision.”
One of these projects was the NewCold food storage facility which was announced in May of last year. The $222-million project, which Van Rijn says is the first of its kind to be built in Canada and is the largest investment in the history of Coaldale.
“(It) was a lot of work, not only by myself as mayor, but also with council working with our administration team to attract this.”
He adds that if elected again he plans on continuing investing more into the town to create jobs and facilities to bring in profits.
Van Rijn also encourages any residents who are interested in putting their name forward for the election, but also hopes to bring in more large residential developments if chosen to continue to serve the Town of Coaldale for another four years.
14-13
makes it an easy vote…for al those that appreciate what coaldale has for town council and their “development” buddies.