Catching Up With Council - Councillor Mark Campbell

Putting your hand up to become an elected public official is not for the faint of heart. After the election campaigning is over, the real work begins. There is much more to a City Councillor role than attending weekly committee and Council meetings. The volume of information, context and legislative requirements can be daunting.

Preparations are already underway for the next municipal election, scheduled for October 20, 2025. We invited all current Council members to share their thoughts on the first three years of this term. In the coming weeks, we’ll share their insights and priorities as we look toward the next election.

We begin with Councillor Mark Campbell, who was first elected to Council in 2017 and won a second term in 2021.

What are you most proud of in the first three years of this Council term?

Councillor Campbell highlights a tough but essential task: addressing property tax shortfalls from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The City maintained a zero per cent property tax increase from 2020 to 2022. During the 2023-26 Operating Budget discussions, Council members recognized that wasn’t sustainable. Five days of deliberations in November 2022 resulted in a 5.1 per cent increase for each of the following four years.

“We had to pay the piper eventually, but we managed to get it to a point where we thought it was very fair,” says Campbell.

Campbell says restoring a $1 million budget cut to Lethbridge Police was a big budgeting win. He also highlights the ongoing support of fee-for-service organizations and maintaining key services.

Councillor Campbell was a strong supporter of the Festival Square Market Plaza and Third Avenue South upgrades. Both projects celebrated their grand opening in June 2022, and he has enjoyed watching them flourish.

“To see Festival Square absolutely jammed, along with the Galt Gardens and Casa area, I thought to myself ‘This is what downtown is supposed to be like.’ I was happy about that.”

What do you want to see accomplished in the last year of this Council term?

Campbell sees the continued support of Lethbridge & District Exhibition (LDE) as a major priority. In January of 2024, the City entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with LDE. Significant financial shortfalls became evident in late 2023 and LDE was no longer able to operate the Agri-food Hub and Trade Centre.

“It’s all about learning what happened. I really wanted to save the Exhibition. It’s critical to me, and I think we’re going about it the right way.”

Campbell also cites expanding water and wastewater capacity, enhancing the airport and continuing to address housing issues as priorities for the coming Council year.

What advice would you give to anyone thinking of running in next year’s election?

The two-term Councillor advises first-time candidates to learn about the work and commitment needed for a Council role. He remembers feeling overwhelmed early in his first term but now feels more comfortable in his second.

“You understand the procedures, you understand governance. I never had that in my other life. And these things are crucial to a municipal government.”

Campbell also stresses the importance of putting aside individual agendas.

“Learn what the issues are. This Council cares about the city. We all want to figure out the best way of going about improving the city or maintaining the standards that we have. Don’t go into it thinking ‘I hate what they did here, so I’m going to go in to do it this way instead!’ It doesn’t work that way.”

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