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Wednesday,November 5, 2025 Volume 48, Issue 44
New Mayor in Viking as council reconvenes Patricia Harcourt Editor
Newly elected councillor Paul King was chosen as mayor during Viking Council’s organizational meeting on Thursday, Oct. 30. Re-elected councillor Judy Acres, who nominated King for the mayor’s chair, became the new deputy mayor. Both came into their positions by acclamation, with nobody opposing them. Viking Council will now be choosing their mayor and deputy mayor from amongst its own ranks, as is done in most villages. This came about following an initiative by then-mayor Jamie Buttner before the last municipal election. Buttner convinced the previous council to end separate elections for mayor, which is the norm for towns to do. A bylaw was passed last year enabling council themselves to choose a mayor every organizational meeting in October for a one-year period. King will serve as mayor from October 2025
to October 2026, when the position will again be available. The deputy mayor position will also be for only a one-year term. “I’m truly honoured to accept the role of mayor of Viking,” said King, who thanked former mayor Buttner for his service. Buttner received a round of applause from the rest of council. “Our idea was to strengthen our council group,” Buttner said, by rotating the mayor’s position on a yearly basis, “so everybody has an equal chance.” Buttner has stated in the past that this was an effort to promote democracy and give each councillor knowledge in the workings of council. Mayor King suggested that regular meetings of council could take place Monday mornings instead of the usual 5:30 p.m. scheduling. However, that was not done as several councillors said they could not make that time due to work commitments. A motion by Buttner to hold meetings on the third Monday of the
month at 5:30 p.m. was passed. Another motion placed committee of the whole meetings on the first Monday of the month at 5:30 p.m. Council also made appointments to the various boards and committees that the town has representation on. Council discussed issues that arose during this process, and agreed several should be part of the first committee of the whole meeting which took place Monday, Nov. 3. Some of the issues concerned finances, intermunicipal dialogue, legal representation, and engineering and development planning. Buttner pointed to the fact the town has “no reserve policy,” in place as this RFD was tabled prior to the municipal election taking place. Buttner also said he regretted not having a draft budget ready for the incoming council to peruse. King said time needed to be set aside for budget discussions. The committee meeting could include general discussions on
Councillor Paul King was sworn in as Viking’s new mayor, and Councillor Judy Acres wass sworn into the office of Deputy Mayor at the Oct. 30 organizational meeting, with CAO Doug Lefsrud, who was also the Returning Officer, doing the official honours. the issue to “see where we are at financially.” Acres added that those issues that were tabled before the election could also be discussed includ-
ing strategic planning for the town. “Let’s use Monday to get up to speed on things,” she said. During the meeting,
King expressed a desire for more perceived transparency for the public to understand the issues and decisions made by council.
PATRICIA HARCOURT PHOTOS
The members of the new Viking Council met for their first organizational meeting on Thursday, Oct. 30, where they elected a mayor and deputy mayor. From left to right are: Councillor Tim Goodison, Councillor Cole Harasyn-O’Neill, Mayor Paul King, Councillor Jamie Buttner and Deputy Mayor Judy Acres.