The Mayor and councillors of the Town of Battleford for the 2024-2028 term gathered for a group picture at Town Hall following the swearing-in ceremony on Dec.16, 2024.(Kenneth Cheung/ battlefordsNOW staff)

By Kenneth Cheung

SWEARING-IN

Battleford council inaugurated; focus on 2025 budget

Dec 17, 2024 | 7:31 AM

The Town of Battleford held its inauguration on Monday night for the acclaimed mayor and newly elected council, marking the start of the next four years.

The ceremony began with Mayor Ames Leslie swearing his oath of office to lawyer Cliff Holm. Following him were re-elected councillors Judy Pruden, Doug Laing, Shelley Boutin-Gervais, Kevin Russell, and newly elected councillors Mark Coleman and Clayton Lazar.

Mayor Ames Leslie and Cliff Holm. (Kenneth Cheung/ battlefordsNOW staff)

Lazar had gone through quite a journey before assuming the council chair referring to the recount process after the election. He said he was glad it happened.

“Because it just proved that our system worked, and [former councillor] David [George] was really good about it,” Lazar noted. “David’s always been a good, good person, a good friend of mine, and I just want to thank him for his service.”

Slaying a dragon

Hawks head to Flin Flon to begin final week of 2024 schedule

7m ago

Student wins tuition contest

Melfort student receives tuition money from Suncrest College contest

14m ago

Crash near Humboldt

One person injured in multi-vehicle collision east of Humboldt

16m ago

Cliff Holm and councillor Clayton Lazar. (Kenneth Cheung/ battlefordsNOW staff)

The recount took place on Dec.11 and was sparked when Lazar (323 votes) unseated David George, who had served as a councillor for about 20 years (322 votes), by just one vote.

Leslie went on to note the council is behind on the 2025 budget plan due to the lengthy recount process, saying that they should have approved it in the first meeting on Monday.

Councillor Mark Coleman and Cliff Holm. Along with Lazar, Colemen, a teacher at Battleford Central School, is the other political newcomer in the office.(Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW staff)

“So tonight, in the last 7 years, we would have been approving budgets, and we haven’t even started discussing budgets yet,” he said.

Despite the bumps along the way, Leslie believes he and the council are ready to “get down to business” and give their best effort forward to catch up.

“Hopefully have a public session of the budgets around the 12th to 14th [or] 15th of January, with the hopes that if council is ready to move on, we’ll pass it at the Jan. 20 meeting,” Leslie said.

Councillor Shelley Boutin-Gervais and Cliff Holm. (Kenneth Cheung/ battlefordsNOW staff)

The first regular council meeting followed the swearing-in. It focused mainly on housekeeping items like bank reconciliation, the Fire Department’s monthly Calls for Service report, and the 2025 council meeting schedule.

Cliff Holm and councillor Judy Pruden.(Kenneth Cheung/ battlefordsNOW staff)

Cliff Holm and councillor Doug Laing. (Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW staff)

Councillor Kevin Russell and lawyer Cliff Holm. (Kenneth Cheung/ battlefordsNOW staff)

The next regular meeting is set for Jan. 6, 2025.

—

Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com