As the 2018 municipal election nears, the GNWT department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA) is set to return local power to the Town of Norman Wells.

The Sahtu community of nearly 800 is one of the few municipalities in recent memory that have had its mayor and council dissolved by MACA. Since last November, the community has been under the direction of Allan Stanzell, a municipal administrator.

The only other community that has faced a similar move in recent history was the hamlet of Fort McPherson in 2014.

Candidates for the new mayor and council began lining up to run for council for the Oct. 17 election after nominations opened last Tuesday. There was no municipal election in 2015, because Mayor Nathan Watson and town councillors Heidi Deschene, Lise Dolen, Pamela J. Gray, Sherry Hodgson, Gregor H. McGregor, and Tim Melnyk were all acclaimed. Most of those candidates, with the exception of Melnyk, said they were undecided or would not run again.
Melnyk says it is critical that experienced politicians are in the mayor and council chairs as he became frustrated with dysfunctional and divisive council meetings.

SA国际影视传媒淚 have been on every council in Norman Wells since 1993, whether it was through election or byelection,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淚 served under every mayor since then. This last council was the worst council I have ever served under.SA国际影视传媒�

Margrit Minder, returning officer for the town, said Friday that she would not disclose to the public who filed nomination papers until after the nomination period was closed on Sept. 17.

After about a year of being elected, complaints about council from residents, other councillors and staff reached MACA indicating there were problems with council procedure and moving issues forward. The GNWT responded by having a municipal inspector examine council operations. It was found that some bylaws weren't being followed and that a number of governance-related documents needed to be updated. Some involved procurement and human resources policies.

Eleanor Young, deputy minister for the department of Municipal and Community Affairs said last week that mayor and council were dissolved in October and that the GNWT hired Stanzell to update the documents and prepare the municipality for a new elected body.

SA国际影视传媒淥bviously no one likes to be in a position where we are taking the ability of local residents to run their community, so it was in our interest to return (governance) as quickly as reasonable,SA国际影视传媒� Young said. SA国际影视传媒淲e also wanted to support mayor and council with regards to some of the problems they had prior to us stepping in last year. This included cleaning up some procedures and bylaws and making sure we can train a new council with new procedures and bylaws.SA国际影视传媒�

Stanzell's tenure began Nov. 1 and he will step down once the new council takes the oath of office, within 45 days of being elected.

SA国际影视传媒淚 fulfill the role of mayor and council, which is more of a political role,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淭here were certain procedures, policies, bylaws, council procedures, HR policies and procedures, associated bylaws with those, finance policies, procedures and bylaws, procurement, administrative ones and governance ones.SA国际影视传媒�
He couldn't identify the number of documents he had to update, but said there were specific ones he focused on ahead of time and ones identified later that had to be fixed.

Stanzell has also been working on an updated training module and orientation package for new councillors after they are sworn in. This will include details from the town that explain the updated procedures and bylaws and documents from the past year as well as the status of town's finances and the town's capital projects. MACA will also provide general community government orientation material, he said.

With no council, there were no council meetings, but Stanzell said he did his best to hold regular public meetings to offer continued communication with residents.

SA国际影视传媒淯sually it was a month to six months and some were attended better than others,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淲e also posted public information on the town website and Facebook page regarding important issues for the public, like the status of capital projects or the opening of the swimming pool.SA国际影视传媒�

His role was also overseeing the municipality's only employee SA国际影视传媒� the senior administrative officer, who is responsible for municipal staff. He said he felt a number of developments were made including the completion of large capital projects SA国际影视传媒� some of which were over 20 years old SA国际影视传媒� such as a new lift station. The fire department was also updated and there was an application made for a 10-year water license.

Stanzell, on behalf of the Town, released a public notice on the municipality's website on Sept. 6 stating that Catherine Mallon, Senior Administrative Officer, will be stepping down from her position when her contract ends in November. Darren Flynn will be filling the role of interim SAO starting Sept. 20.

SA国际影视传媒淒arren brings extensive Northern community and territorial level experience to the position, and will be responsible for guiding Town affairs through the remaining election period and into the term of the next Council,SA国际影视传媒� according to the notice.