Alderman Links

These links come from #GroveVote on Twitter, they may also lead to websites and Facebook.

• Michelle Thiebaud
• Searle Turton
• Louise Baxter 
• Wayne Rothe 
• Ed McLean  
• Bill Kesanko 
• www.votebillsteinburg.ca
• www.anngillieepilepsyspeaker.com,  Facebook, LinkedIn
• Bernadine Miller

•  

See Election 2013 for more links, especially the library link.

Make comments if you know of other links and how candidates view community engagment.

Public Hearing on Tri-liesure Parking and More.

Dear Fellow Citizens,

Council is trying to push through a development permit that will affect Tri-liesure parking and the city budget.  Perhaps this should be left for the new council as it affects many residents and there has not been sufficient public consideration given to the develoment.  Get out and let this council know we care and want more public consultation on major community developments. 


October 15, 2013 Public Hearing (6pm at City Hall)

• Development Permit Application for Commercial Development, 205 Jennifer Heil Way

Please Pass this Message on to show we care about our community. 

We hope this is the beginning of more engagement in our city.  see post on Customer Satisfaction.

Customer Satisfaction

Stuart Houston Re-elect for Mayor of Spruce Grove  September 29

Listening & engaging the residents of Spruce Grove in what they want in Quality of Life in their home community. A formal external resident satisfaction survey conducted March 2013 by Banister Research & Consulting Inc...

Comment from the Saunders Team

Listening and engaging citizens is more than taking survey's and hiring consultants. "It is not good enough to be told that if you have an issue you must wait for a public hearing to have your say ... and then after the public hearing to be told that you cannot talk to Mayor or Council because that might affect the process ...." see 

Also take a close look at the survey and see what people are satified with.  We don't just want satisfied customers we want engaged citizens, who are not only somewhat satified but are working together to make our community great not just good enough. see working together on our website.

Staying in Touch

Dan Saunders makes only one promise : To serve those who elected him.  That means staying in touch - being both open and accessible to you at all times.  That means being committed to providing you information before debating an issue and then ensuring that your concerns are heard completely by council before a decision is made.  That means that council will not be enticed into quick decisions by those who would rather not hear from the public.  see

Community Partnerships

Stuart Houston Re-elect for Mayor of Spruce Grove  September 25

Support and facilitate with Council innovative approaches to securing partnerships with various community Groups that added value and amenities to our community including Rotary Play-scape at the Tri Leisure Center

Comment from the Saunders Team
We want to make sure the whole community is consulted (see and supported as we make these partnerships see Citizen Pays to Make Bylaw Corrections

Building Community Pride

Stuart Houston Re-elect for Mayor of Spruce Grove September 25 

Being involved in events that promote and celebrate the teamwork of different groups and reflects the solid cooperative spirit of our City residents.

Comment from the Saunders Team
We want to go beyond celebration and cooperative spirit to engagement, starting with a meaningful community caucus which is followed up by Staying in Touch.

Community Concerns

In this post we would like to highlight concerns brought forth by members of the community.  If you concerns comment to this post and we will see what we can do to voice your concerns.

Citzen Pays to Make Bylaw Corrections
Public Hearing on Tri-liesure Parking and More.

Citizen Pays to Make Bylaw Corrections

Quote from Candidates Working Hard Dan Saunders for Mayor website.  The news article has other citizen concerns.


"In one case, there was a significant error in the advertising for the land use bylaw - necessitating a second public hearing - but council and city administration would not even speak with their ratepayers to hear the facts. A lawyer was retained to send his written opinion that the process was flawed.  Only then did council decide to hold a second public hearing which resulted in over 100 amendments to that bylaw.  It then refused to reimburse the legal costs for that lawyer's work."

Community Conversations.

These conversations are opened ended and ongoing.  Comment to this post if you have a conversation you would like to start. 

Conversation on the Primary Role of City Council.

Conversation on the Primary Role of City Council.

Let's start this conversation from recolections of a face to face conversation with Joe and Aker present.  Joe stated something like this that the primary role of council was to direct administration to work for the good of the community.  Jeff and others in the group commented that the opposite was happening.  Citizen concerns were being refered to adminitration to handle, rather than council listening to citizens and others concerned in the matter and direting council to resolve the issue.  Now over to you.  Make a comment on what you think the primary role of council should be. See Dan Saunders on

Election 2013

We want to see if we can get more involvement in the election than last time.  We would like to see the turn out double.  Last time it was just over 20%.  Let's see if see can get 50% this time.  Let your friends know about the election and our blog so they can be informed as they vote (below are specific have for the Mayors race - there are only two choices so get out an vote for Mayor even if you don't vote for aldermen).  See the Spruce Grove Library Vote 2013 Page for Comprehensive Information also see #GroveVote on Twitter and

We want to make it easy for you to make an informed vote see the links below.

• Spruce Grove Mayor Race 2013
• Candidates for Mayor on Community Involvement 2013...
• Alderman Links

Make comment on any ideas you have on how to get involvement in the election and beyond.  

Spruce Grove Mayor Race 2013

The race for mayor focuses community involvement.  Initially this blog will focus on the mayor race and then we will move to the alderman race.   Here are links for your consideration. 

Candidates for Mayor (2013) on Community Involvement

News from Spruce Grove, Alberta... brought to you by Local Ad ...

sprucegrove.localadvantage.ca/news.php‎

The City of Spruce Grove will be having a mayoral race this year, as former alderman Dan Saunders has officially announced his intention to run against ...

Stuart Huston: 

1. Stuart Houston (MayorStuHouston) on Twitter

2. Stuart Houston - Canada | LinkedIn

3. Houston to seek re-election | Spruce Grove Examiner

Dan Saunders: 

1. Dan Saunders announces for mayoral race in Spruce Grove

2. Dan Saunders for Mayor  www.dansaunders.ca/‎

3. Dan Saunders (voteDanSaunders) on Twitter

Candidates for Mayor on Community Involvement 2013

You can follow  both candidates on Facebook.  Also take a look at the links to what the canditates and their team are saying about Community Involvement.  Both candiates have been asked to respond. 

Community involvement links Dan Saunders for Mayor team:

• Candidates Working Hard .  The news article has several citizen concerns inlcuding Citzen Pays to Make Bylaw Corrections.
• Conversation on the Primary Role of City Council.
• Staying in Touch 

Comunity Involvement Mayor Stuart Houston's Facebook.

• Building Community Pride
• Community Partnerships 
• Customer Satisfaction

You may also want to voice your concerns on our Community Concerns post.