St. Albert mayor elected president of newly rebranded Alberta Municipalities

EDMONTON -

Cathy Heron was elected Friday as the new president of Alberta Municipalities, an organization that used to be known as the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA).

Heron will remain as the mayor of St. Albert, where she was first elected as a councillor in 2009.

"I promise to take this new brand, which to me signifies unity across Alberta and it signifies strength in what we do for our communities, I'm going to take that to the legislature floor," Heron promised the crowd at their 2021 convention in Edmonton.

"I'm going to make sure that municipal issues are heard loud and clear, so we can get a government that will understand and work with us."

Both Premier Jason Kenney and NDP leader Rachel Notley have addressed the organization this week at the Edmonton Convention Centre.

The Alberta Municipalities board is made up of elected mayors and councillors from across the province.

The group represents communities where 85 per cent of Albertans live and advocates for "solutions to municipal issues, which we categorize as economic, environment, governance, infrastructure, or social."

"We removed 'urban' from our name because members said they didn't relate to it, and they define themselves as communities and municipalities. They also said the acronym AUMA simply didn't hold any value for them," spokesperson Scott Lundy wrote in a statement.

The previous AUMA president was Brooks mayor Barry Morishita, who stepped down in the summer to become leader of the Alberta Party.

The new President of @ABmunis: the amazing @CathyHeron from @CityofStAlbert! Congratulations to a phenomenal leader who will be a strong voice for municipalities across Alberta. #yeg #abmunis #ableg #abpoli pic.twitter.com/kaXhJUJv5o

— Andrew Knack (@AndrewKnack) November 19, 2021