City To Hold Private Swearing-In Ceremony For Council Thursday

The vote for the last two Hat council seats might be tight but the city is indicating it will be proceeding with a non-public swearing-in ceremony Thursday, according to an email obtained by Owl News.

“The Oath of Office will be administered prior to the start of orientation on October 23rd, which will not be open to the public,” states, in part, an email sent by acting city manager Tarolyn Aaserud to council candidates on Oct. 17.

Requests for comment from both Aaserud and chief electoral officer Andres Cardona Arias regarding the non-public swearing-in ceremony were not replied to as of Wednesday evening.

As of 5:15 pm Wednesday, the city has indicated it’s not planning to report any further election results, “however, in the event counting concludes tonight (October 22), a final report of unofficial results will be published.”

The swearing-in ceremony scheduling comes despite 15 per cent of ballots remain uncounted in a tight race between seventh and eleventh place for the eight council seats. It will also come prior to official results being recorded.

The latest tally shows a 163-vote difference between current seventh place Dan Reynish and eleventh place Robert Dumanowski. Brian Varga, Adam Koch and Kirsten Spek all fall within that 163-vote margin respectively.

The email from Aaserud acknowledges provincial legislation which requires swearing-in of a new council to take place after official results are declared.

However, the email notes council training is also mandatory under the provincial Municipal Government Act, “which requires all elected officials to complete orientation following an election.”

The email indicates that training will commence 9 am Thursday with the non-public swearing-in ceremony expected prior to that time. That training will continue on Friday, according to the email.

Official results from the Medicine Hat municipal election will be official as of Friday noon.

A spokesperson from the provincial Ministry of Municipal Affairs was not available to comment regarding the city’s swearing-in ceremony taking place prior to official results being posted by publication time.

The email from Aaserud indicates a public swearing-in ceremony will be held on Nov. 3.