Medicine Hat council hopeful says role clarity, ‘proactive communication’ are crucial

For Kunz, an ongoing conflict between the mayor and the chief administrator over the division of powers has revealed how important it is to grasp everyone’s responsibilities.

That is why she’s spent the last year and a half studying Alberta’s Municipal Government Act, the city’s bylaws and codes to prepare for her run.

She’s also spent the last six years getting involved on several community boards to better understand how leadership works at the city, she said.

“Understanding governance is very important if you want to be on council,” Kunz told CHAT News from in front of city hall on Saturday.

She currently serves on the boards of the Root Cellar Food and Wellness Hub and HALO Air Ambulance.

She also sits on Methanex Corp.’s community advisory panel and was previously involved with the YMCA of Medicine Hat.

Kunz opened a local business in 2004 and has since spent time in various management roles that she said has allowed her to understand both leadership and administration.

She said that, as a councillor, she’d aim to solve internal conflict at the city so that is doesn’t take away from the important work at council.

“We have to just kind of get back to understanding what everybody’s position is,” she said.

“And how council helps administration, how administration helps council, how the city helps council understand what they want, and that the community is just heard a little bit more.”

City critics often call for more transparency — but Kunz wants to go further.

“What we need to do is start having a bit more proactive conversations with the community,” said Kunz.

She said that includes more open houses at the early planning stages of a project so the city can gather more feedback from residents.

But that also takes some understanding from the public, she explained.

“We’ve become quite reactive as a community when it comes to administration and council and I’d like to see us going back to being a little more proactive,” Kunz said.

She said some residents feel like they’re being told what’s happening instead of being consulted.

But there’s a balance, too, said Kunz, as the community can’t get involved in every single decision.

It comes down to trust and that trust is currently broken for many people, the 30-year Medicine Hat resident said.

“We want to get back to a place where the community can trust that we are taking their thoughts and concerns into the decisions,” Kunz said.

The next term of council will likely need to make several decisions that are likely to determine Medicine Hat’s future, including proposed changes to its energy business, a major community capital project and various other items.

Kunz said the City of Medicine Hat shouldn’t be afraid of big ideas.

“We just need to start welcoming a little bit more grander ideas that that could be more inventive of what the future of Medicine Hat looks like,” she said.

There are challenges, too.

Medicine Hat is not immune to the rising cost of living and unemployment issues present in communities across the country.

Kunz said that includes her own adult children, who are not sure they want to return to the city they grew up in.

Her goal, she said, is to face those problems by determining a “threshold of success.”

“I want to find out what would make Medicine Hat feel like they’re succeeding as a whole, and then set that as a target.”

Kunz was the fourth resident to register as a candidate for councillor. Alberta’s municipal elections are scheduled for Oct. 20.

by Eli J. Ridder

Medicine Hat council hopeful says role clarity, ‘proactive communication’ are crucial

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