Lethbridge mayor and city council officially sworn in

Lethbridge’s mayor and city council are now officially on the clock after being sworn in.

Blaine Hyggen was the first to take the oath of office on Monday, starting his second term as mayor.

“Humbled and honoured are the two main words for today and, for that matter, for all of the time that I’ve served on council,” Hyggen said following the ceremony.

Hyggen was joined by returning councillors Belinda Crowson, Jenn Schmidt-Rempel, Mark Campbell, Ryan Parker and Rajko Dodic.

New to the position are Ryan Wolfe, Rufa Doria and Al Beeber.

“This is a great time to be confident and excited,” Wolfe said.

“First and foremost, we’re in a democracy, and the voters are never wrong, so from there it’s now time to put on your collaboration hat and draw, in my particular situation, draw from the wisdom and experience that exists at this table.”

The swearing-in ceremony also featured the first portion of the new council’s organizational meeting.

“I feel so honoured, and I’m looking forward to my responsibility to work along with the council members,” Doria said.

This year’s election saw just over 17,000 people cast a ballot, or about 19 per cent of total eligible voters.

It was also the first time the City of Lethbridge counted ballots by hand since 1992, after the province made changes to Bill 20 and banned electronic tabulators in 2024.

“We did start with the mayoral (ballots) on Monday night, and we did that for the purposes of less election workers needed for that because you are only choosing one, so it’s a little bit easier to count; you don’t need so many election workers, and so therefore not so much overtime and night premiums,” said Bonnie Hilford, the city’s returning officer.

“So, we did go back to the mayor on Tuesday night, and we started with council on Tuesday morning.”

The City of Lethbridge used fewer voting stations compared to past elections.

Larger and consolidated voting stations were needed to accommodate more workers due to the province’s new elector registry.

Each voting station also required hardwired, secure internet.

More than 600 workers were hired, compared to 200 during the 2021 municipal election.

This year’s vote saw a cost increase of more than $300,000.

“We did have a successful and transparent election,” Hilford said.

Despite the results process taking nearly 48 hours, councillors say they’re ready to get to work.

“We need to look at those taxes, but we also need to make sure that we have the services, and that is going to cost money, so that’s going to be a situation council is going to have to deal with,” Beeber said.

“How are you going to keep those service levels up without impacting the quality of life here? That’s going to be hugely important for council to work on in this next four-year term.”

The second part of the council’s organizational meeting and the first council meeting will take place Nov. 3.