Westlock County voters all but cleaned house in the Oct. 16 Municipal Election, returning only one incumbent to the seven-seat council. Out of 5,425 eligible votes, 37.
Westlock County voters all but cleaned house in the Oct. 16 Municipal Election, returning only one incumbent to the seven-seat council.
Out of 5,425 eligible votes, 37.6 per cent cast a ballot, while the new councillors will be officially sworn in Oct. 24.
Two incumbents, Don Savage in Div. 5 and Ray Marquette in Div. 3, were edged out by single-digit votes in two recounts on the morning of Oct. 17.
Darrell Osmond defeated Savage by one vote, 110 to 109. Returning officer Leo Ludwig said that a spoiled ballot was found to have been valid upon recount. Osmond said the 'x" on the ballot wasn't clear when it was declared spoiled, but it was clear looking at it a second time.
Osmond said he was happy to get in, though the tie was certainly unexpected.
'It doesn't happen very often, but I did hear that it's happened before in Div. 5 over the years, but I was surprised to see the tie," he said.
In fact, seven years ago Savage slid into council by a single vote in a 2010 recount defeating then-incumbent Charlotte Eliuk, while in a 1974 tiebreaker, his uncle John Harry was defeated by a draw from a hat.
'I talked to a lot of taxpayers in Div. 5 and yes, I was expecting to do well, but you're always thinking which way it's going to go," Osmond continued. 'I was thinking I had pretty good odds of getting in for sure."
'I'm looking forward to being a part of the council, and planning and developing for Westlock County... and I'm looking forward to get out meeting all the people in Div. 5 and getting their thoughts."
Div. 3's Lou Hall, the only female candidate, was declared victorious over Marquette with 108 votes to his 105 - the Oct. 17 recount confirmed the totals.
Hall said she felt really good about the results.
'I think I was more nervous about the recount than I was about the actual election itself, just because if there had been an error and I hadn't been the one to win," she said. 'Ray (Marquette) and I both agreed that it was great to have the recount and get in there and talk about it and discuss things. He's going to be there if I need him."
Hall was at the county office as the polls closed Monday night when she learned there would be a recount.
With the results siding in her favour, she said she was excited to take the next step.
'I've never been in public office like this so it's a new adventure for me," she added. 'We're all new except Div. 7, Dennis Primeau, so it's going to be an interesting time."
Primeau was the only candidate to return to his seat this election, defeating Bert Seatter by 14 votes. Primeau said he realized he should have gone out into the community leading up to the election.
'Much of my vote never voted," he said. 'A lot of that has to do with because I never campaigned. I didn't have any signs, I didn't do anything, so I think that was a bit of a mistake. We learned that in the process."
As the only returning incumbent, he said the results showed a considerable amount of disenchantment that gave opportunities for other candidates to come forward.
'They're looking for better government and I think they want to have a government that's actually following the Municipal Government Act," he noted.
With almost all of those elected being new to politics, Primeau said he was optimistic this would be a better council, but added that the county lost a few good councillors.
However, as the most experienced councillor, he didn't think he would be the leader as some candidates were fairly seasoned.
'We have Brian Coleman - this is no rookie here," he said. Coleman was the CAO of Westlock and District Housing for nine years and spent nine months as interim CAO of the amalgamated Westlock Foundation.
Coleman was elected to Div. 4 by 221 votes, ahead of three other candidates whose combined total equalled 160.
When he saw the results, Coleman said the first thing that ran through his mind was that his hard work paid off.
'I visited every residence in this division," he said. 'I didn't talk to lots of people because farmers are in the field and people are working but I visited every residence in the division. The other thing, I think I have skills that can benefit the county and I think people recognized that."
Although he was happy there was a respectful race in every division, he was disappointed with the voter turnout.
However, he felt confident the new council would be able to work together, especially with the tough decisions it faces regarding the ski hill and municipal inspection recommendations.
'This council has to come together very quickly and start making good decisions," he said.
In Div. 1, Victor Julyan outnumbered incumbent Ron Zadunayski by 88 votes. Julyan was waiting at Vimy Community Hall as ballots were being tallied Monday night.
'I saw the people counting and I got the completely wrong impression of what was going on," Julyan said. 'So I was pleasantly surprised that I was the winner. I had hoped that I would be - you don't go into these things expecting to lose."
With that outcome, he said he felt optimistic that this new council would steer the county in the right direction, such as encouraging opportunities at the airport, making it easier for small businesses, and forming a better relationship with Clyde and the town.
'With new faces there's an opportunity that they've got an open mind, not a shut mind, and the fact is that they attempted to get on the council driven by the situation that they saw facing it," he said. 'I think the councillors that are coming to the table now are going to be working together to try and go forward. We're just caretakers, we're people looking after and trying to keep the present good, and building for the future."
Jared Stitsen, who was elected in Div. 2 with 320 votes to Lavern Bazin's 48, said he wasn't expecting to win by that wide of a margin but had lots of help with his campaign.
'Just talking with a lot of the residents in the area after the (candidate) forum and it was a really hard decision for them they were saying, and they wished Lavern and I were in separate divisions," he said. 'They were just impressed with all the stuff from the forum."
Stitsen said he is excited to work with other councillors on regional collaboration and has already been in touch with the town's mayor, Ralph Leriger. He also anticipated hearing councillors' thoughts on the ski hill and the results of the plebiscite.
'I was honoured with all the support," Stitsen said. 'I'm looking forward to the four-year term coming up. It's an exciting time for Westlock County and I'm looking forward to seeing some changes with our council. It's really exciting."
As fire chief of the Busby Volunteer Fire Department, he plans on staying on as permitted by the Municipal Government Act.
Div. 6 winner Fred Slobodian also took the councillor's seat by a significant lead (185), bypassing Stuart Fox-Robinson's 110 votes and incumbent Mel Kroetsch's vote of 27.
Slobodian said his biggest competition was Fox-Robinson but the win wasn't unexpected.
'I had pretty good support from everybody ... like I was raised here so that helped. I thought it would be closer, but it wasn't so I got a little more support than I had anticipated."
Now that he is official, he said his past experience answering to directors in a public service company would prepare him for the job.
'I'm sure some of the others are in the same position," he said. 'I'm looking forward to learning a little bit more about how the town and the county are connected and what projects that they work on together."
Slobodian campaigned on roads and would also like to implement annual grading programs, but the next topic would be the ski hill.
'I think we all noticed in the voting that the closer to the ski hill the people were, the more people wanted it to stay in the ownership of the county, and the farther away the people are, they don't have as much interest in it," he observed.
