Election brings little change in local RMs

Yorkton voted for change in recent municipal elections, but the same cannot be said for the adjacent rural municipalities.

Although the RM of Orkney changed reeves, the winner in that race was Randy Trost, a long-time councilor and incumbent representative of Division 2 going into the vote.

Trost knocked off one-term reeve Dale Rhinas 394-304. Three council seats were also in play. In Division 1, incumbent Gordon Rhinas handily defeated Lonnie Chupa 238-119. Incumbent Dale Hackman also prevailed over Joanne Neilson 47-34.

Vern Effa was acclaimed in Division 5.

With Trost moving into the top political job in the R.M., a by-election will have to be held to fill the now-vacant Division 2 seat.

Orkney has been a jurisdiction of some controversy in recent years. A group of Division 1 residents feels RM spending is inequitable given their division contributes the lion’s share of the revenue, but, they say, does not receive requisite services.

Joe Zarowney, who has been speaking for the group in the weeks leading up to the election, noted that with Dale Rhinas out of the reeve’s seat, disgruntled Division 1 residents will now have one less voice advocating for them.

They have other grievances, including what they believe are outdated boundaries for the divisions that make council unrepresentative of the population distribution. They plan to take this issue up with the Province although it is a tough row to hoe considering the process requires a resolution of council.

On the east side of the city, in the RM of Wallace, it is status quo all the way with the incumbent reeve, Garry Liebrecht, and Divisions 1 and 5 councillors Barry Novak and Ervin Stricker acclaimed.

The only seat to be contested, Division 3, saw Dale Cherry re-elected over Fred Phillips in a vote of 88-77.