The Oct. 26 election for Estevan city council resulted in defeat for two incumbents and three other hopefuls.
For Brian Johnson, it marked the end of a 16-year career as a councillor. Johnson finished eighth in the councillor race with 1,333 votes.
He believes council had done a good job, particularly in the last two years, and he didn’t hear a lot of complaints in the community. The campaign was quiet, he said, and so the results caught him by surprise.
“It was nice to see new people stepping up for the challenge of the position,” said Johnson.
When he ran for the first time in 2000, there were numerous contentious issues, including the controversy over the Shirley Creek drainage project in northeast Estevan.
He believes council has had a number of accomplishments in the last 16 years, including guiding Estevan through an economic boom, to the construction of Affinity Place, to the addition of a new water reservoir for north Estevan.
He’s not sure if he’ll remain involved with any of the committees that he was part of during his council tenure, but he’s looking forward to finding something new.
Kevin Smith was the incumbent councillor who was defeated. He finished one spot higher than Johnson with 1,387 votes, but it was still short of winning a council seat.
The results also caught him by surprise, as the feedback he received during the campaign was positive. He was also surprised to see three new people on council.
He is pleased with the changes that took place with the city during the past term. The level of service has gone up, and he believes people are more satisfied with the city.
“Financially, being able to identify why we’re struggling so much, being a part of pushing for change, and financing the corporation the way it should be (was an accomplishment),” said Smith.
Smith says he has a great deal of confidence in the management team at city hall, and predicted the city will carry forward with improvements seen in the last few years.
He’s not sure if he’ll remain involved with any city committees, as now he’ll focus on work and family.
Cameron Robock finished ninth with 314 votes. He was surprised with how many votes he received, considering he had less than 100 votes when he ran as an independent in the most recent provincial election.
“I was surprised that some of the older people who had been on council for many years were ousted by newer people, but that was nice,” said Robock. “It adds some young blood, which was kind of needed.”
Robock was also pleased that Roy Ludwig was re-elected as mayor, as Robock believes Ludwig has done a good job.
People he talked to during the election said they believe Estevan’s debt needs to be reduced. A lot were unaware that it was so high. There were also the traditional concerns about roads and property taxes.
But he was disappointed with the voter turnout, which was down by more than 500 people from the previous civic election.
As for the mayoral challengers, James Halladay finished second to Ludwig with 453 votes. It’s an improvement from his 2012 showing, when he finished third with just over 300 votes.
He took little consolation in his improved showing.
“When you hear comments all the time about how we need change, but nobody ever does anything, and nobody comes forward to vote, then you’re not going to get change,” said Halladay. “The aldermen and the mayor have their supporters who support them all the time.”
People spoke to him during the campaign about the need to promote the city. Halladay believes council needs to be more aggressive in promoting it as a desirable area for businesses.
He’s not sure if he would run in a future election, but he will always consider Estevan his home.
Rhyan Hagel was running for mayor in his first foray into municipal politics. He finished third with 191 votes.
Even though it was his first attempt, he expected to become Estevan’s mayor.
“I didn’t walk in with a defeatist mentality,” said Hagel.
Still, it was a great experience. It was one of the best things he has ever tried to do.
“You get to meet new people, you get invited into their lives, and it was a completely different experience from what I thought it would be,” said Hagel.
He thought he would hear conversations about the roads, taxes and infrastructure, but instead he heard people talk about debt repayment and the need to bring new industries to the city.
