You're About To Drink From A Fire Hose
- Municipal Affairs
- Sep 8
- 2 min read
With Alberta’s municipal election just around the corner, candidates are out in full force—pounding in signs, knocking on doors, and filling up social media feeds in hopes of winning voter support.
But once the ballots are counted, the results declared, and the new council is sworn in, the real work begins.
For many freshly elected officials, those first few months can feel like drinking from a firehose—an overwhelming rush of information, decisions, and responsibilities. Personalities can clash, priorities can collide, and the learning curve is steep. Yet how a council navigates those early days can set the tone for an entire term.
In this episode, we’re asking: what makes a council successful in its first months? How can a change in leadership reshape a community? And what is the true value of a mayor and council in 2025?
To answer these questions, we turn to two experts who have spent decades working alongside councils across Alberta and beyond. George Cuff, governance expert, consultant, and author of Leading: The Real Value of a Mayor and Council, The Mayor, and Executive Policy Governance. And Ian McCormack, president of Strategic Steps Inc. and author of Who Is Driving the Grader, The DNA of Great Leaders, and UnCivil Society.
Together, they share insights on how councils can hit the ground running, what pitfalls to avoid, and yes—we’ll even get to the bottom of that all-important question: who’s driving the grader?
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