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There will be two new faces on Swift Current City Council for the next four years.
While all six sitting councillors ran in Wednesday's municipal election, only four of them were able to hold on to their spots. Ryan Plewis, Gord Budd, George Bowditch and Denis Perrault kept their jobs, but Pat Friesen and Ron Toles overcame both incumbents Dan Martens and Tim Bugera.
Friesen cruised to victory with 2235 votes, more than any other candidate.
Interview with Pat Friesen"I would have been very pleased to be among the top six and just be a part of council," Friesen said. "To receive the top number of votes is very humbling for me and I'm very grateful."
The retired Innovation Credit Union Executive Vice President of Marketing spent a lot of time getting out into the community during her campaign.
"I did some door knocking, I went and visited some seniors homes... I talked to a lot of people and listened to their concerns," Friesen said. "It was a very interesting experience and will help me be a better city councillor."
The other newcomer is former teacher Ron Toles. He finished 76 spots ahead of Martens for the final spot at the table. He tried to explain why he may have caught on with some voters.
Interview with Ron Toles"My years of teaching, working with kids, working with adults and working with parents," Toles said. "People know I'm honest. I say what I mean, I mean what I said, I don't pull any punches. I'm a researcher, I dig for answers, I don't quit until I find out."
Toles felt one particular issue may have been a deciding factor for some voters.
"My one big push that people maybe liked about my campaign was that I'm still fighting for a library downtown," Toles noted. "I don't want to see a branch moved from out of that core area. It's important to people."
The proposed integrated facility near the hospital was top of mind for many voters and candidates throughout the election.
"I did hear a lot about the integrated facility, concerns on what would be a part of that and how that would be funded," Friesen said. "I don't think that's anything that's got to be decided right away. I'll take the time to fully understand what's happened and hopefully make great decisions in the future."
The new councillors will be sworn in and that's when the steep learning curve begins. It's something George Bowditch went through three years ago.
"What they should do is really lean on the councillors that have been here," Bowditch said. "It's going to be a challenge for the first while, but they will rapidly learn what is expected of a council. The biggest thing is the work together as a team."
Gord Budd has seen many councillors come and go as he enters his fourth term in office.
"They both bring a new perspective to council so I'm looking forward to seeing that," Budd said. "But they're going to find that the way they see things today could be different than the way they see things in a couple of years from now. There is a process and as new councillors they will go through it as everyone has in the past."
The team building process could be helped along by pre-existing relationships. Denis Perrault has worked with both Toles and Friesen on the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
"I know both are passionate about the city of Swift Current and both bring a lot of energy and excitement to that new role," Perrault added. "I would be honoured if they wanted to solicit some advice from me and I would do my absolute best to share with them all that I know to make sure to bring them and welcome them to their new role."
What made the election victory bittersweet for the incumbents was having to say goodbye to colleagues Dan Martens and Tim Bugera. They received nothing but praise from those who served with them.
"We had a pretty close team with the last council," Ryan Plewis said. "You develop some close working relationships and some close friendships. To lose a couple is tough but unfortunately we can't mourn about that for too long. Tim (Bugera) has been a real champion of youth in our city and that's no surprise to anybody with the accomplishment of budgeting for a Liaison Officer in our city as a trial run has been in no small to Tim... Dan's (Martens) contributions, I've got a close personal relationship sitting beside him and working on a number of files... the one that stands out for me is the #4 Highway upgrade with Dan. He's been right in the mix with that attending two conferences even in the last couple of weeks during campaign time it's obviously important to him and to all of us."
Mayor Jerrod Schafer didn't have to face the electorate as he was acclaimed to his role. Now he faces the task of bringing together the four returning councillors with the two rookies.
Interview with Jerrod Schafer"It's exciting we're going to be sworn in within the next week," Schafer said. "I think a good practice that we've had for the last few councils is bringing in an outside third party that is sort of an expert in municipal governance. We'll bring them in to go through an orientation and go over roles. For the most part it's a fresh slate for everybody and what can we do going forward."
One sour note for this year's election was that the voter turnout dropped 39.5% from 5230 in 2009 to 3163 this year.
"We all have this right to vote and I think it's something that we should exercise," Schafer noted. "We'll do what we can to make sure we have higher turnout after four years."
Fri, Apr 26, 10:00 AM
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