May. 26, 2010 - Issue #762: Timeland

A councillor’s dozen

Dave Thiele talks about his 12 years on city council

When Ward 6 Councillor Dave Thiele was first elected in 1998, the Oilers played in a building called the Edmonton Coliseum, the Triple-A champion Trappers regularly sold out Telus Field and Celine Dion was riding Titanic to the top of the music charts. Thiele, who announced earlier this month that he would not be seeking re-election, sat down with Vue this week to talk about his time on City Council.
Ward 6, reaching up from Summerside in the south to Ottewell in the north and running east from Gateway Boulevard to the city limits, has voted in Councillor Dave Thiele for the past 12 years. With its 130 000 residents, it would be Alberta's third-largest municipality if it were not part of Edmonton.
Although electoral success didn't come for Thiele until his third try, he is currently one of the three veterans on council. With only Ron Hayter serving longer, and Bryan Anderson equalling Thiele, it gives him a unique perspective on term limits—of which he is a firm believer. He is careful to clarify that he isn't speaking about anyone in particular before agreeing that councillors might have a "best before" date. He feels the same about elected representatives at all levels of government, and had originally planned on serving nine years, only so many experienced council members had decided to resign last election that he decided to stay on to shepherd what turned out to be a rather large influx of new councillors.
Now he's hoping the new 12 ward system will help to change the inequities new electoral challengers face. While Thiele concedes it was a lot easier for him to raise money as an incumbant (Thiele's disclosure statements from 2007 revealing a re-election bid of $95 000—quadruple what he spent on his first campaign) he's somewhat less adamant regarding legislated restrictions on campaign spending. He muses the city itself might play a larger role, offering some sort in kind services like advertising to candidates to help address inequities in fundraising capacity.
"I still believe that the issue of pensions for City Councillors needs to be properly addressed," he says, explaining that this is one of the reasons why it seems like the only people we elect are those who are independently wealthy or already retired.
Upon his initial election, Thiele took a leave of absence from his 21-year job at Aqualta, the water branch of EPCOR, but due to constant absention votes on issues regarding EPCOR, he finally decided to resign. It was a difficult decision for his family. Had he continued working on fire hydrants, he would have been eligible for a full pension at age 55, less than nine years following his election. But in order to be able to vote on matters concerning EPCOR, he risked finding himself 50 years old, unemployed and with a reduced pension. He and Fran, his wife, ultimately decided the matter was important enough that it outweighed the potential risk and considerable financial sacrifice.

Asked if we might see his name on the ballot for some other level of government in the future, he says he's never really had aspirations beyond City Hall. Reminded that he sought the nomination for the provincial New Democrats in Edmonton-Goldbar in 1996, after having lost two bids for City Council, he laughs out loud.
"That," he explains, "was the result of some serious arm-twisting by (former Mayor) Ivor Dent and Neil Reimer." Old school political organizers, Reimer and Dent felt that it was important for Thiele to get his name out in public in any way possible, to improve his chances in the next municipal election, after having made two unsuccessful bids.
Asked to list some of his accomplishments, Thiele hesitates before talking about his work preserving Edmonton’s heritage. Having just returned from a conference in Ottawa, he muses about how it would be wonderful if Edmonton had a Capital Commission similar to that city's.
"The taxpayers of Canada all pitch in to make that city look beautiful," he says. "We really cheapen our society by not looking after our history."
While in his 12 years Thiele has received the Jim Shewchuk Award and the Alberta Centennial Medal and considers both of these significant honours, one can't help but get the impression that the symbol that makes him most proud of his accomplishments in office is the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) flag that hangs in his City Hall office. Thiele is a firm believer in the value of sport to help youth find their full potential and in bringing people together to form a community.
A gift from FIFA President Sepp Blatter for his efforts in bringing the FIFA U-20 to Edmonton in 2007, Thiele recalls receiving the flag while sitting with Blatter, former Mayor Bill Smith, and 50 000 other screaming fans while watching a girls soccer match.
"It's pretty hard to pick one moment out of 12 years, but I will never, ever forget that moment," he says, the pride in his voice unmistakable.  

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