Three pairs of family members are running in Edmonton's municipal elections, raising questions about whether, if elected, they could form voting blocs.

Rocco Caterina worked with his father for 10 years as his executive assistant at city hall. But after the Oct.16 election, they could both be sitting on council.

Caterina is running to represent northeastern Edmontonians in Ward 4, right next to his father, Coun. Tony Caterina, the Ward 7 incumbent.

"If we're both elected, we're colleagues first," Rocco said Thursday. "We're not father and son at the table, that comes second place to that advocacy that's expected of us."

The Caterinas are not the only candidates with family ties vying for spots with city government this election cycle.

Father and daughter, Rudy Arcilla and Mara Suchy, are both hoping to be elected to the Catholic school board in Wards 72 and 71, respectively.

Michelle Draper is acclaimed as a board chair for a second term on Edmonton's public school board. Her son, Justin Draper, is running his first bid for council in Ward 4.

Kim Krushell, a former city councillor, said she has "never seen anything like this" before.

The last time Edmonton saw two family members serving on city council was in 1945, according to University of Alberta political science professor Jim Lightbody.

'Something council might want to watch'

According to Alberta's Local Authorities Election Act, elected officials only need to be residents of Canada who are 18 or older in order to run for a municipal position. Otherwise, there are no restrictions for who can run for city council or school boards.

Former councillor Michael Phair said council might need to make some changes if two members of the same family are elected.

"It might be something council might want to watch when it's setting up committees," he said. "They may decide it might not be best to have the two on the same committee."

Rocco agrees, and said he will be able to better represent the people in his community if he and his father were not seen as a "tag team" working together on the same committees.

Lightbody said the families involved in the election have to be transparent about how each candidate is running independently. Otherwise, he said, the electorate might question their motives.

The first duty of councillors, according to Alberta's Municipal Government Act, is to "consider the welfare and interests of the municipality as a whole."

The concern for voters, Phair said, might be that the family members could create a voting bloc on council and work together on similar issues.

"Traditionally, everyone at city council is independent and on their own ... but it could also be that the two work together or that one overshadows the other," he said.

Voting blocs already common on council

Voting blocs are fairly common at council, Krushell said, so family motives would only come into question if related councillors always voted the same way.

But Rocco said he has not heard any concerns from voters at the door.

Former city councillor Kim Krushell said she believes it would be unfair to assume that family members would always agree. Family members, she said, might disagree more than any others.

When asked if the two Caterinas would talk about politics outside of work, Rocco said it would be impossible to always separate the two.

"Are we going to talk? Yes, but all councillors talk, whether they're related or not," he said.

At the end of the day, Lightbody said, it comes down to the choice of the electorate.

"We have to trust the electorate at some point. They will have to make that choice," Lightbody said.

Edmontonians head to the polls on Oct. 16.

anna.desmarais@cbc.ca

@anna_desmarais