New 'eager' city council sworn in at Edmonton city hall

Edmonton's new city council will have a plethora of projects and issues to tackle over the next four years, but Mayor Don Iveson sounds optimistic the team is up to the challenge.

"It's a new dynamic, it's a really eager group," Iveson said after the new council was sworn in at city hall Tuesday afternoon.

Four people, voted in Oct.16, aretaking seats oncouncil for the first time.

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Jon Dziadyk was elected in Ward 3 in a close race over incumbent Dave Loken.Aaron Paquette represents Ward 4.Sarah Hamilton represents Ward 5 and Tim Cartmell is councillor for Ward 9.

Sitting in council chambers for the first time as a group, council heard Mayor Don Iveson announcea fresh start.

"It'd be very easy to just pick up where we left offfor those of us who are coming back," he said.

"It's important for all of us to remember this is a brand new city council with a new dynamic and a new opportunity to set our own direction together."

Ivesonsaid he wants to focus on making Edmonton more family-friendly, attracting new talent, new jobs and new projects.

"We all want to see forward progress on infrastructure.Nobody's suggesting we should building less or fixing less," he told media afterwards.

"I think everyone's committed to seeing if we can bring the tax increases in the coming years down as labour costs settle."

Iveson, mayor when the city got its share of criticism over the delays on major projects such as the Metro Line LRT and the Walterdale Bridge, said the city has learned from past blunders.

"We heard lots of constructive feedback about how we can do things better."

Edmonton being a young and fast-growing city, Iveson said one of the biggest priorities is getting ready for when the city grows to onemillion people.