Lethbridge Mayor Chris Spearman not running for re-election

The COVID-19 pandemic, as it has with most people, has forced him to be unable to see his family in person. By the time October rolls around, he hopes that travel restrictions will have been lifted and that he would be able to travel abroad to visit his children.

“Two of my sons live overseas and it’ll be great to be able to travel to Australia and Japan to visit them. I’m looking forward to having more control over my free time and time to spend with people I love.”

He’s served as the mayor of Lethbridge for eight years, first being elected to the position in 2013. Having served on the board for the Holy Spirit Catholic School Division for several years prior, he says this will wrap up around 26 years of public service in the city.

Spearman also released a brief statement on Twitter. He said it’s been a privilege to serve Lethbridge and he’s “now past the age when more people retire”.

It has been a privilege to serve our city as mayor. I am now past the age when most people retire. 2020 has made me realize how much I miss spending time with my family. This gives me time to plan for retirement and gives others time to prepare, if they wish to serve. #yql

— Chris Spearman (@Spearmac) January 7, 2021

Some of the things he is most proud of during his time in office is being able to secure significant investments for projects such as the U of L’s Science Commons building, the expansion of Exhibition Park, the creation of the ATB Centre, and the opening of the $430-million Cavendish plant, which is the largest single private investment in Lethbridge.

Another highlight for Spearman was getting to host Alberta’s mid-sized mayors and CAOs.

“They had heard all the horror stories about the SCS and drug addiction. They stayed in the hotel and we had the meetings in the Galt Museum. I took them on tours around the city and showed them what we have and they were amazed. They said, wow, they have a bus terminal, wow, look at that industrial park – we don’t have industrial parks. They were blown away with what we had.”

Not everything has been smooth-sailing, however, as the mayor says the provincial government has not given the city enough support for the things it has jurisdiction over.

“My regrets, obviously, are a lack of progress on social issues – not being able to help on housing significantly – we have a housing strategy, but getting support for it, we don’t have tangible results. We’ve got 200 people, minimum, that are homeless in our city.”

Overall, he asserts that he is not worried about what his legacy will be as the mayor when it is all said and done. Spearman says it is the duty of every council to build on the work done by its predecessors and he believes they have done that.

The timing of Spearman’s announcement was also done to allow other prospective mayoral candidates the time to fully consider running and making preparations.

The 2021 municipal election is on October 18.

READ MORE: Nomination forms for 2021 municipal elections now available

Nomination forms are now available and have to be submitted by Nomination Day, which is four weeks prior to election day.

Spearman will continue to be Lethbridge’s mayor for another 10 months. During that time, says he will remain committed to serving the people of his community and will try to make continued progress on issues such as the capital budget and social supports.

At the time of publication, no members of the current Lethbridge City Councillor have formally announced if they will be running for re-election or for mayor.

by Justin Goulet and David Opinko/LNN

Lethbridge Mayor Chris Spearman not running for re-election

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