With major decisions on developer levies and suburban growth policy looming for the next city council, the head of a major Calgary home builder is urging employees to vote for company-endorsed candidates, according to a memo the Herald has obtained.

“There has never been a more important time in the history of this industry that our collective voice is heard,” states the letter signed by Greg Lefebre, president and CEO of Excel Homes and Apex, a land developer.

Attached to the memo is a map of the city’s 14 wards, with one candidate’s name listed in all but Ward 8. The list includes some of the challengers to sitting aldermen that Shane Homes founder Cal Wenzel had suggested were “the dark side” in a secretly videotaped political speech to industry colleagues.

The memo, dated Sept. 27 but leaked to media outlets in this final week before the vote, speaks to a key campaign argument by Mayor Naheed Nenshi.

He has offered support to all incumbents and has decried a “slate” of industry-supported candidates with ties to the conservative Manning Centre.

The Apex CEO’s letter also notes the company offices will all close for three hours in the middle of Oct. 21 so people can vote on election day. “Please confirm with your manager if you intend to go and vote during this time period,” says the memo.

The Herald visited the Apex and Excel Homes office Thursday to inquire about the executive’s letter. A spokeswoman said there would be “no comment” at all from the company.

In two years, the next council will help shape negotiations on developer levies, which the mayor has argued aren’t high enough to cover all growth costs.

Councillors will also chart the course on a growth management framework that guides which new undeveloped edge lands will proceed first or which will wait. Wenzel, in that speech last year, spoke of needing eight business-friendly votes on the 15-member council.

Apex and Excel have suburban projects on Calgary’s edge in all four quadrants, as well as in nearby towns. According to its website, the group of companies employ more than 100 people.

The list of candidates endorsed on the memo’s map are: incumbents Jim Stevenson (Ward 3), Ray Jones (5), Andre Chabot (10), Shane Keating (12), Diane Colley-Urquhart (13), and Peter Demong (14); challengers Sean Chu (4) Joe Connelly (6), Kevin Taylor (7), Richard Wilkie (9), and James Maxim (11); and open race candidates Chris Harper (Ward 1) and Joe Magliocca (2).

The Herald was emailed a scanned version of the memo from somebody wishing to remain anonymous, who said he’d received the memo from a friend at one of the companies. The source admitted he’d looked into volunteering for Nenshi, but has not joined the mayoral campaign.

Meanwhile, Nenshi said he’s glad a company has spelled out for voters which candidates are believed to be development-friendly. “It tells them exactly which candidates to avoid,” he said.

Like many incumbents in conservatives’ crosshairs, Ward 4’s Gael MacLeod has lately gone on the offensive. Her campaign has released an anti-Chu website that decries his apparent link to home builders and refusal to voluntarily disclose donors before the election.