The City of Humboldt has spoken and continuity was quite clearly on their minds.
\With Mayor Malcolm Eaton retiring from office, the city was guaranteed a new mayor and the overwhelming choice was former councilor Rob Muench.
Muench received 1,633 votes beating out second place Harley Bentley by 1,364 votes.
The race for mayor was over relatively early in the counting process as Muench took a 247 vote lead after the advance poll ballots were cast and never looked back.
The people spoke and they spoke in favour of experience in both the mayor’s chair and council, says Muench.
“Because of the way Humboldt is going to be growing in the next year, I guess they felt it important that somebody is there that has some experience and is ready to roll right away.”
Nov. 1 already is the start of new things for council with the launch of the Budget 2017 consultation.
Hard copies will be available at City Hall, as well as an online copy on the City of Humboldt website, and at the City of Humboldt booth at the Humboldt Fall Business Showcase & Tradeshow on Nov. 5-6.
“We’re going to be getting information on what the citizens want, what the priorities are.”
It can be a little daunting filling Eaton’s shoes, but Muench says he hopes he can carry some of Eaton’s work forward.
“He’s done a lot for our community and he’s well respected, not only in Humboldt but in the province and beyond...he’s done a lot of good things for the city.”
Muench will be joined on council by all three incumbent councilors, as Sandy Weyland, Roger Nordick and Larry Jorgenson were all re-elected for council and finished as the top three choices.
Michael Behiel was the councillor with the most votes after the incumbents.
Behiel had a great campaign and judging from how many votes he received, his election platform is something that voters agree on and something he wants to continue to bring to council.
“A lot of their (the voters) concerns were concerns I had myself...given the voter support I’ve received is exactly where I need to continue to focus.”
Behiel, along with Lorne Pratchler and Owen Hopfner, will be the new faces on council.
Hopfner edged out Amanda Klitch and Terry Schatz, in what turned out to be a very close race for the final spot on council.
The race for the final spot came down to the final poll as the trio of Schatz, Hopfner and Klitch were neck-and-neck heading in.
With the guarantee of a new mayor, voters came out in droves to cast their ballot.
The advance polls saw 383 voters cast a ballot, while the number of voters who cast their ballots on the day of the election reached 1,600.
Returning Officer, Michael Ulriksen, says voter turn out was a welcome surprise with 1986 votes cast for mayor and 1958 votes cast for city council.
“We were extremely impressed with how many people were talking about the election leading up and were dialoguing about it and asking questions.”
Ulriksen says he was excited to see people engaged with the election, especially compared to the turnout and dialogue in 2012.
Ulriksen would like to thank the people who worked the election day and all the candidates who ran. That is what it takes to have a good election, says Ulriksen.
The newly elected council will begin their four-year terms on council with the Swearing-In Ceremony on Nov. 7 before they preside over their first council meeting on Nov. 14.
Official Election Results:
Mayor
Rob Muench 1,633
Harley Bentley 269
Shawn Wempe 81
Council
Roger Nordick 1,255
Sandy Weyland 1,233
Larry Jorgenson 1,161
Michael Behiel 1,112
Lorne Pratchler 1,034
Owen Hopfner 914
Terry Schatz 896
Amanda Klitch 869
Justin Arendt 637
Francis Kunz 443
Sandor Demeter 152
