NIPAWIN — Nipawin is seeing three people run for mayor and 10 run for councillor in the upcoming civic election.
The election will be held on Monday, Nov. 9.
Mayor
Rennie Harper
There is a lot the Town of Nipawin has to offer its citizens and the province and that is why Rennie Harper is running for another term as Mayor of Nipawin, she said.
The town’s history, innovation, and its abilities to problem solve means it has the potential to become a leading community in Saskatchewan, and Harper wants to continue to lead it there, she said. Collaboration is a bit part of that, she said, as groups within the town and throughout the province working together will solve a lot of problems.
“My approach for everything is centred on my real belief that partnerships among groups with people of different perspectives offer us the best solution to a lot of the challenges that we face, not only in this community but throughout the province.”
There is much more that needs to be done, Harper said, including the continued work on the Nipawin Hospital Heliport fundraising, decommissioning of the landfill and the continued work with the Boreal Area Regional Waste Authority, and improvements to public safety in the town are important things that Harper did not want to leave on the table.
Harper has been mayor of Nipawin since her election in 2016 with seven brand new members of the council at the table, including herself. It was a challenge, she said, but one they overcame as a cohesive group.
While council ran smoothly before the pandemic, now that COVID-19 is a major part of the decision-making process, the focus of the next council is on supporting and protecting the community in the needs to manage the pandemic, she said.
Brian Starkell
Brian Starkell, Nipawin’s former fire chief, has entered the Nipawin mayoral race.
Starkell started firefighting in 1976 for the Village of Codette, before transferring to the Nipawin Fire Department.
In 2010, he was selected to be Nipawin’s fire chief where he stayed until November, 2019.
In August 2019, he was named an ambassador of the Canadian Volunteer Fire Services Association, and was recently inducted into the Saskatchewan Lions Hall of Fame after serving 35 years as a Lions Club member.
“Now that I’m retired I have time to run for mayor, and I have time for the position,” Starkell said.
“So with eight years’ experience on the village council in Codette before I moved to Nipawin, my experience with that and my experience with the Town of Nipawin should make me be a decent mayor.”
Starkell said some items he intends to continue lobbying the provincial and federal governments for funding, expand economic development, expand the tourism sector, revitalization of the downtown sector, continue with the current strategy plan, and support administration staff to improve services for residents.
“I encourage everybody to vote, and I’m looking for their support so I can represent the people of Nipawin, and work for them in our great community.”
Marlon Zacharias
Marlon Zacharias has some great ideas to move Nipawin forward, he said, which is why he is running for mayor during this 2020 election.
Talking with Nipawin residents, Nipawin isn’t moving forward fast enough, he said, and he wants to be a part of that plan to see Nipawin grow.
Zacharias’s plans revolve around the business community with plans to help commercial, industrial, and retail businesses expand, and creating a vibrant residential atmosphere to draw in more families and give them a reason to stay in Nipawin, he said.
Developing the tourism industry and giving it a larger role in economic development is also on Zacharias’s list of plans for the new council term if he is elected, he said.
“I really want to step it up to the next level, which again, is going to promote downtown business, it’s going to promote people living in our area. All of these things are all going to work together to really help plan for growth in our community.”
Zacharias was born in Meadow Lake with his mother’s family connecting him to Nipawin where he came to live and bought his business. This small, Saskatchewan community upbringing has prepared him for a role on the council, he said.
“A small community is where I wanted to raise my family, that's what brought me to Nipawin. I came for business and I just thought that was the place I want it to be.”
Council
Jan Boughen
Jan Boughen will be going for a second term with her name on the ballot for the upcoming municipal election. As a professional that works with supporting children and families, Boughen brings a unique perspective to the Nipawin town council and wants to continue that support at the municipal level, she said.
“I really like being a part of supporting the town and moving forward in making decisions that will support people in Nipawin.”
While the town has celebrated some big successes over the past term, including the opening of the new water treatment plant, which took over a decade to plan, Boughen said there are also little successes to celebrate, including the completion of the traffic and active transportation studies. The completion of both these studies will have important future impacts on Nipawin, she said.
Boughen was first elected in a 2017 byelection. Boughen’s own interagency work always saw a member of the council at the table which helped her build connections and partnerships that helped her later time on the council.
Sheldon Chornawka
Since serving on council is the best chance to give back to your community, Sheldon Chornawka said, he will be seeking re-election for a seat on the Nipawin town council during the upcoming municipal election.
“I wanted to be part of the decision making process for Nipawin now and into the future.”
Going into his second term of council, Chornawka wants the town to concentrate on green initiatives for their town facilities and see what grants are available for making it happen. He wants to see that for all publicly owned buildings, he said, including the arena, the Evergreen Centre, and the public works buildings.
Being on council, there is always something new to learn, he said, so he is excited to see what the next term has in store. It’s a learning curve, he said.
Chornawka’s campaign will be nothing out of the ordinary, he said, with signs up around the town.
John Dempster
John Dempster has lived in the Town of Nipawin off and on for the last 30 years but came from a small town, he said in his bio.
“My two youngest children were born here, this is also my wife’s hometown. I have always loved this area and always wanted to retire here.”
Dempster has been asked multiple times over the years to run for council but could not devote enough time, he said. Now that he is retired, he is excited at the prospect of being able to have his name on the ballot.
“I have always believed that if you think there is a problem, you should be a part of the resolve not the problem.”
Dempster has worked for Nipawin Chrysler during his time in Nipawin and has spent 40 years in the car industry from salesman to general manager, he said in his bio. “The two times I came back it was because Lyle Stankowski thought enough of my abilities in business to ask me to come back.”
This line of work makes him a potential asset for the Town of Nipawin, he said.
Dempster also feels his psychology education helps him understand where people are coming from and gives him “a profound ability to listen,” he said.
Bruce Pihowich
Bruce Pihowich is coming into the race for a seat at the Nipawin council table with no agenda, he said, but a desire to learn how the council system works.
“Hopefully I can make a difference in some of the decision making going on,” he said.
The long-time Nipawin resident has spent 35 years as a member of the Nipawin Fire Department and is semi-retired. Pihowich said he managed a cabinet making shop for 30 years and still works as a locksmith.
Gene Rusk
Gene Rusk will once again have his name on the Nipawin municipal election ballot.
Rusk, who’s retired, was first elected to council in a byelection in April 2019 and said with all the young people on council, he wants to continue to represent the old guys in the community.
In the last byelection, he said he was concerned about businesses and ran because civic politics was something he hadn’t tried before.
“We’ve got a lot of empty buildings on our main streets,” Rusk said during the last byelection. “I’d like to see a lot more people come to town, along with some new businesses.”
With potentially being at the table for the next term, Rusk said he wants to carry on with the ongoing business that council will continue to face in the new term.
Rusk was born and raised in Nipawin.
Sheila Seiferling
Nipawin has been the home of Sheila Seiferling for the last 30 years, including her daughters who have moved back to Nipawin to raise their own families.
Running for Nipawin town council is one of the ways that Seiferling wants to give back to the community has loved for three decades.
Seiferling has spent her working life as an acute care and home care nurse throughout the Nipawin area which has connected her with all ages of people right from birth to providing end of life care, she said.
Her job also gave her opportunity to connect her with representatives at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels. This grew her interest in being at the council table and understanding how to support her community, she said.
If elected to town council, Seiferling wants to help Nipawin continue to be a great place to live since she will continue living here for the foreseeable future, as well as her family. That will take address issues that haven’t been addressed yet, she said.
“We have a huge housing issue where we have a number of people living in one house because they aren't able to find other housing options. So that is something that I would like to focus on in my time on Council. As a small business owner myself, I am very interested in economic growth and development.”
Kerry Skowronski
The first four years of this last council term was a learning curve for the then-new councillor, Kerry Skowronski. Now with her name on the ballot for a second term at the council table, Skowronski said there is a lot of unfinished business that she wants to see through.
“We were left with lots of old business to finish up. I don't think we ever really got our chance to do our thing.”
Being a small business owner in Nipawin, she felt she could be the voice for the Nipawin business community. When she first thought about running, she was told by one of her clients that if you aren’t part of the solution, you are part of the problem. That resonated with her.
“I bring a different perspective because I am a business person, and I don't have a guaranteed income. I have to fight my way through this.”
Skowronski is ready to work, she said, with all except one municipal leadership workshop under her belt and a better ability to adapt to dealing with municipal issues.
While Nipawin and the area have gone through some tragic events in the past term, Skowronski said she was happy to see communities come together.
“You learn a lot about people in the times of tragedy and I learned that there's a lot of wonderful people here.”
Geoff Stewart
Geoff Stewart will be seeking at least one more term as town councillor in the Town of Nipawin, he said, making this a potential second term for Stewart.
With projects still on the table that he still wants to be a part of, these are things that he wants to see to completion, he said, especially from a fiscal responsibility side.
The first few years are all about learning what the council’s responsibilities are, he said, and it is a lot less than people expect it to be. While the council sets the policy and decides where the money goes, they are not the ones doing the work, he said.
“We want to continue to provide better recreation services at the Evergreen center, and it's nice for the council to be able to take credit for that being improved over the last four years. But in the end, we made the decision, we set the direction, and somebody else is doing the work.”
With some big infrastructure projects taking years to come to fruition, Stewart is happy for the chance to provide council continuity from one to the next, although he knows his time is a drop in the bucket compared to the grand scheme of community planning. Considering they started with a brand new council at the beginning of this past term, Stewart said it was noticeable and he wants to avoid that this year.
Stacey Vik
Perspectives change when a new council comes to the table and Nipawin town council candidate, Stacey Vik, said he wants to bring a new view to the upcoming council.
Vik has lived in Nipawin for 57 years, he said, and has been a local business for 40 of those years. He also has been a volunteer firefighter, a hockey and baseball coach, and a Chase the Ace volunteer during that time.
Looking into the coming term, Vik said he doesn’t want to make any campaign promises except one, he will act with honesty and integrity.
“If there's any chance of bringing new business to Nipawin, I'd like to help in any way shape or form to bring that to Nipawin to grow the tax base. But I'm not making any promises that I'm lowering taxes or anything. I will do my best to act in the town's best interest.”
While it is too soon to have an agenda, he said, he is concerned about Nipawin’s ageing population and the need for more young people moving to the town. The more the merrier, he said.
With Vik new to the council scene, he knows it is going to be a learning curve as he finds out how different bylaws work.
Joyce Watts
Joyce Watts has always called Nipawin home so when she ran for her first term at the Nipawin town council table, she did it because she was interested in building and growing her community.
For Watts, the past term has been a success with the council bringing in policies and bylaws that financially safeguard the community and treat employees fairly. Running for a second term, Watts wants to continue to be a part of that work, she said.
Being a part of the town council can mean time away from family and a person’s business and work out of the nine to five scope, and people have to make sure they are ready for those commitments. When Watts was first preparing to run for council, she attended council meetings for a year to ensure she was ready for the time commitment, she said.
Everyone has a point of view to contribute, she said, and while they may not agree with the sentiment, councillors need to listen to everyone.
“You may not always agree to it, but you might be able to come to some sort of understanding on what really is the underlying issue. Listening is another area where you need to be able to have that skill.”
