Stephen Mogdan announces his candidacy for mayor of Lethbridge. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Stephen Mogdan announces candidacy for mayor of Lethbridge

Mar 11, 2021 | 11:26 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Lethbridge now has its first candidate seeking to become the city’s mayor this fall.

Stephen Mogdan says he has been thinking about running for municipal office for several years now, but it was only in the last year that he realized that now would be the right time.

He is a lawyer by trade but has also been involved with organizations such as the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Lethbridge BRZ, YMCA, and the city’s Economic Recovery Task Force.

Mogdan says he understands that anyone stepping into the mayor’s chair will likely have to deal with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and put a large focus on economic recovery.

“We need to make sure that we are doing everything we can to make it easier for our businesses to thrive and for our citizens to make ends meet. I applaud council for their current approach to holding the line on tax increases.”

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“If we have a perception of being a high-tax municipality, then that’s going to slow growth and that’s going to make things more difficult for our citizens. If we have seniors who are on a fixed income and it’s difficult to make ends meet, we can’t really be increasing taxes that way. On the other side of that coin though, that means we have to find efficiencies – we need to be very careful with our budget process and that’s one of my main commitments.”

Social issues have become more prominent in Lethbridge in recent years with matters such as homelessness, poverty, crime, and substance addiction at the forefront.

The mayoral candidate offered his perspective on how to tackle these issues.

“We need to, number one, be compassionate, but we can’t be compassionate to the extent where we are sacrificing things like public safety and for people to feel like they can go anywhere in Lethbridge and not have to worry about safety.”

Mogdan believes the city will have to put in place more resources for policing and further build relationships with organizations that help those who are struggling.

It is his position that safe streets and helping those in need is not an “either/or” proposition, that “good government doesn’t limit its own potential.”

The city is guaranteed to have a new mayor this fall after current mayor Chris Spearman announced back in January that this would be his last term in office.

READ MORE: Spearman not running for re-election

The 2021 municipal elections take place on October 18, 2021.

More information on running for municipal office and submitting nominations for mayor, city council, or school board here.

Residents can view a list of everyone who has filed nomination papers for the election here.