Voters will be heading to the polls today to select a new member of council and answer two important questions being posed to them by the City of Estevan.
Five candidates are running in the byelection, which was made necessary when former Councillor Chris Istace resigned just over one year into his four-year term.
Looking to fill his seat are Lynn Chipley, Stewart Miller, Trevor Knibbs, Waseem Mohammed and Marge Young.
Of the five people in the running, Chipley is the lone candidate with previous council experience. She served two terms on council before falling to Roy Ludwig in the 2012 mayoral race. The local realtor and owner of has stayed active in the community since her defeat and is currently a member of the Estevan Board of Police Commissioners and the Estevan Chamber of Commerce board of directors and is also involved in the 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games committee.
Miller is no stranger to public service as the pastor of the Trinity Lutheran Church. Along with his duties at the church, Miller has been very involved in the public through such endeavors as the Warm Welcome Shelter and is also a member of the Estevan Ministerial Association.
Young has become a prominent voice in the community through her involvement with the Time to Twin Highway 39 Committee. Young and her fellow committee members worked for a number of years to bring the safety issues on the highway to the forefront and saw their work pay off when Premier Brad Wall announced in 2013 that twinning would become a priority for the government.
Knibbs has been the most active candidate throughout the campaign with an aggressive advertising campaign. In a previous interview, Knibbs, who is the owner of Power Dodge, said he is excited about the future of Estevan and would like to be part of helping the city become all it can be. He, too has been active in the community supporting a number of teams, groups and events through the automobile dealership and is also a former member of the Estevan Bruins board of directors.
Mohammed was the first candidate to declare his interest in the election and is making his second run at council. The owner of the Fas Gas location in Estevan finished a respectable eighth in the 2012 election. Mohammed, who has an extensive educational background, has been running on a campaign of making Estevan a clean and green community and providing a new voice on council.
Along with selecting a new councillor, voters are also asked to determine if they would like to see fluoride continue to be added to the local water supply and whether or not they support the development of a casino in Estevan.
The fluoridation issue was raised out of concerns about the safety of workers at the City's water treatment plant who deal with the chemical, which is added to the water supply to improve the overall dental health of residents. The City has stated that fluoridation is not overly expensive but does take a toll on their equipment leading to additional maintenance costs.
The casino question was raised after it became public that the Little Pine First Nation of northwest Saskatchewan has approached the City with a proposal to build a casino and hotel development in Estevan.
Although any potential casino would be years away from even breaking ground, Mayor Roy Ludwig made a motion to ask voters their opinion during the byelection.
