Candidates coming forward for election
By Lethbridge Herald on July 31, 2025.
Nathan Reiter
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism initiative Reporter
The municipal election is still a couple of months away from taking place in Lethbridge, but several candidates have already put their names forward to run for public office.
In order to run for city council or a school board in Lethbridge, candidates must be at least 18 years of age, be a Lethbridge resident for at least six months, a Canadian citizen and not be disqualified under the Local Authorities Election Act of Education Act.
Candidates must submit a Notice of Intent form that includes both their first and last name, residential address, contact information, the office they intend to run for, address for the location of candidate records, financial institutions to be used for campaign contributions and names of signing authorities on the campaign accounts.
In order to run for office, candidates will need to gather signatures from registered voters. For mayor, 100 signatures are required. Councillors must collect 50 signatures while school trustees require five.Â
According to the City of Lethbridge website, 14 candidates have filed a Notice of Intent to run for seats on city council, with 11 successfully completing the nomination process.
The list of candidates who have submitted a Notice of Intent to run for council includes:Â
Kaittie Aurora,
Kelti Bard
Rajko Dodic (incumbent)
Rufa Doria
Robin James
Tevi Legge
Magie Matluic
Ryan Mennie
Gerry Saguin
Jenn Schmidt-Rempel (incumbent)Â
Mike Schmidtler
Suketu Shah
Davey Wiggers
Ryan Wolf.
Incumbent Blaine Hyggen is the only person to submit a Notice of Intent to run for mayor so far.
Emmanuel Anom, Michelle Brown, Brooke Culley and incumbent Allison Purcell have all put their names forward to run for Public School Board Trustee.
In the Separate School Trustee race, only incumbents have declared so far. Frances Cote was the lone candidate for Ward 1. Linda Ellefson, Carmen Mombourquette and Robert Spitzig will be going in Ward 2. No candidates have come forward for Wards 3 or 5 while Blake Dolan is the only name put forward for Ward 4.
The nomination period for the 2025 Lethbridge Municipal Election closes on Sept. 22 at noon. The election period will be Oct. 8-20.
26-25
I believe EVERY politician should be forced to disclose their political party affiliations. Why? While municipal politicians declare they are nonpartisan, that is a lie. They claim they will vote in a nonpartisan manner, but EVERY decision they make is based on their political leanings and affiliations, their trains of thought, expectations. Therefore if they do not disclose their party affiliations / leanings, they are only skewing their own positions and attempting to influence then put in their own already influenced political agendas.
The fact that we cannot truly KNOW without those admissions, makes this entire conversation ludicrous.
While some comment they need Leaders, not politicians, just shows a mindset that they believe one is existent without the other is ignorance at it’s foundation.
We can all dream of having polticians who actually act in the best interest of the people, however, that gets skewed with time, and definition.
Politicians are leaders, thing is if we do not attempt to hold them to account and have the availability / opportunity / methods to do so, then the debate is mute.
Right now we have municipal politicians who are gaslighting concerned citizens to the point where when citizens call them out on their gaslighting they are banned from contacting those same politicians. We are not talking just one or two citizens.
We need recall reform. For example:
If the city’s so concerned about the costs, then they should be answering how the original budget for the Agri-hub was $62M with the budget for the Agri-plex $16M. Then to have the ENTIRE budget spent on the Agrihub, while the Agri-plex was mothballed. So instead of having 2 complexes we got one for $78M and lost one worth $16M which means we actually lost $32M, The city council and Executive Director – Joel Sanchez, allowed the project managers of the Agri-hub to do their own auditing, so we lost $32M in upgrades.
Lethbridge Agri-Hub and Agri-plex:
There were some that posted that this was fake……… I did a deep dive, and found an article by CTV whereby the entire budget for the Agri-hub was $62M, which included the Agri-plex was $16M = $78 M. The city turfed the Agri-plex citing funding.
So the Entire Agri-hub which should have cost $62, cost $78, and the Agri-plex is defunct.
We were overcharged by $16M just for the Agri-hub, and the $16M for the Agri-plex disappeared. Meanwhile our taxes went up to cover the losses. As mentioned before, this was $30M overbudget and we got less for the money spent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC3cUYm-4zY&ab_channel=CTVNews
Confidential reports and documents highlighting LDE financial fallout released
By Karsen Marczuk
Published: May 13, 2025 at 6:12PM EDT.
In it, a submission made to the City of Lethbridge dated June 17, 2019, shows that Phase 1 of the Agri-food Hub and Trade Centre, with a cost of $62 million, would focus on the convention side of the project, with an indoor open tradeshow space, commercial kitchen, meeting and convention spaces, and lobby area.
Phase 2 would’ve included the Agri-plex – an additional $16 million dollars – to include seating capacity for 1,000 to 1,500, a dirt floor area, 150 to 175 livestock pens and wash bays.
The documents show the potential to include a hotel within the LDE grounds, citing a lack of hotel rooms that a business/convention traveller would consider booking into. It also included a shuttle to the airport.
It was also proposed to install solar panels on the roof of the Agri-food Hub and Trade Centre to offset electrical use of the facility.
The idea of paid parking was also being explored.
Only phase 1 was completed, yet the budget was for the entire project.
In 2023, it was discovered that despite the project being completed, the LDE was experiencing significant financial challenges and was on the verge of having to shut down operations.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/article/confidential-reports-and-documents-highlighting-lde-financial-fallout-released/
Lethbridge and District Exhibition financial fallout: potential property tax increases, millions in loans
By Karsen Marczuk
Published: November 27, 2024 at 6:33PM EST
https://www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/article/lethbridge-and-district-exhibition-financial-fallout-potential-property-tax-increases-millions-in-loans/
Dodic allowed the inconsistencies, expenses, and now claims victimhood, like he could / should be trusted.
He’s no more trustworthy than Spearman, who allowed his GF to give herself a pay raise to $300K a year when she was only authorized to a max of $80K, meanwhile she allowed the SCS to encourage 657 users to use the SCS 15,000 times per month. This made Lethbridge the busiest SCS in North America. We are still dealing with the fallout loss of businesses, finances, etc.
And yet, we are told they are nonpartisan, have no real accountability to the citizens of Lethbridge while ensuring our taxes went up for a partial project that went into $32M in losses…. or unfinished unfunded assets.
Dodic needs to be removed, and anyone else who allowed this illegal activity, including the bureaucrats who hide behind their positions without taxpayer accountability, enabled by these supposed municipal representatives.
I agree those that were in office during the Agri Hub design and construction must be held accountable for the massive budget overrun and our tax increase. All candidates should be asked to disclose their political affiliation. If they refuse then the voters can make their assumption why and vote accordingly. I also have concerns about how a candidate’s religious beliefs might affect how they vote on matters such as book banning. I had contacted council about allowing Alberta Prosperity Party holding a separatist fund raiser at the Agri Hub which I thought should not have been allowed. They rejected it. I had contacted council to refuse a permit for mega MAGA Sean Feucht should he decide to hold a concert in Lethbridge. I was basically brushed off with no explanation as to council’s position. These are my personal experiences with our existing council and I will consider them when voting.
Probably freedom of expression ruled the day. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean anything you dislike should be censored. Don’t go is always an option. Case in point. Gay pride has parades and other functions. It is there right to do so. Many choose to participate and many don’t. Don’t recall anyone tying to terminate their parades.
I don’t consider promoting separation from Canada and hate speech as being protected by freedom of speech but that’s just me.