In honor of the recent civic election, I thought we'd take a
look at the early history of Edmonton City Council.
During the
1870's and 1880's, the only form of organized government in the
Edmonton settlement existed in the form of the Edmonton Public
School Board (est. 1884) and the Edmonton Separate School Board
(est. 1888).
Matthew McCauley (pictured) and six elected aldermen made up the
first Town Council. Council handled daily business (creating the
fire brigade, regularizing the street system, licensing issues,
etc) and also organized committees to handle additional duties.
Trivia break: What was the first bylaw passed by Council and
what year was it passed? Look for the answer at the end of this
post.
The City Charter of 1904 restructured civic government - the
number of alderman was increased from 6 to 8 and Council decided to
hand off executive powers to the Commissioners. The Commissioners
consisted of the Mayor (Kenneth MacKenzie) and two appointed
members.
The number of alderman grew again in 1912 after the amalgamation
with the city of Strathcona. The amalgamation agreement required
that two alderman had to be from the south side.
Trivia answer: The first bylaw was passed in 1902. It paved
the way for the installation of a water and sewer system east of
102 street.