The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo council welcomed back Colleen Tatum, a year and a half after she attended her last meeting as council member before recently winning the position back in the last election. Tatum said “It absolutely felt surreal a little bit. Not shyness, but surrealness. It took a motion or two and then I was right back there.” Tatum was officially sworn in as Ward 1 councilor before the council meeting, regaining what she lost when she lost her seat in 2013. Tatum discussed the first meeting as a council member again and said “I feel like we had a good meeting and everyone participated and we all expressed our views quite well. I enjoyed being back in the process.”

Collen Tatum was sworn in as a member of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo council by Mayor Melissa Blake. According to Blake Colleen Tatum has not yet been part of the grand ceremony that occurs when a seat is won in the general election. Both of Tatum’s wins occurred in a byelection. According to Blake “Both times I’ve had the privilege of introducing her to a meeting with agenda content, where the rest of us … get pomp and circumstance. It’s a huge advantage to have someone who has been through the ropes and can immediately participate.” The first meeting Tatum attended as a council member again included the last part of the capital review process. Tatum said that the review process was justified and commented “I feel like I always have concerns when we delay projects that we’ve identified as priorities, but the reality is that we’re in a new economic climate and there’s savings to be had, so we should explore all options to achieve those.”