SUNDRE – The Town of Sundre's mayor has joined the ranks of some of his counterparts from across the province to earn the Municipal Elected Leaders certificate.
The Elected Officials Education Program (EOEP), in partnership with University of Alberta Augustana Extended Education, previously launched the development opportunity for any members of councils who are keen to expand their knowledge in multiple areas of local governance.
The certificate recognizes an elected leader’s commitment to ongoing education in pursuit of striving to deliver quality service to their community.
Mayor Richard Warnock recently completed all of the required courses and graduated in April and Linda Nelson, chief administrative officer, presented a copy of the certificate on April 28 during a regular council meeting.
“It was more than I thought,” said Warnock, encouraging any of his colleagues with an interest to go for it.
“I found it very enlightening.”
The program involves extensive training in seven areas that must all be completed and go beyond the basic orientation council members get upon being elected, he said.
Those categories in no particular order are as follows: planning and finance, land use planning, public engagement, regional partnership, service delivery, strategic planning, as well as effective meetings.
“You can’t miss any part; if you miss any part of the session, you got to take it from scratch all over again,” he said.
“Take it if you can, but be dedicated,” he said, adding it’s not a commitment to be taken lightly.
There are more than 300 municipalities in the province, and Ab Munis represents 264 member municipalities from summer village to cities. The education development program is delivered in conjunction with Rural Municipalities of Alberta and the provincial government, said Scott Lundy, communications manager for Ab Munis.
In 2022, there were 22 graduates with another 25 graduates the following year. Lundy called 2024 a “bumper year” that produced 46 graduates. There to date this year have been 21 graduates with the possibility of nine more before the end of 2025, he said.
