It was a battle of experience versus the promise of change and the voters of Estevan made a clear decision as they overwhelmingly chose Roy Ludwig to lead the city over the next four years.
Ludwig, who served as a councillor for the past 18 years, earned a surprisingly large victory in last Wednesday's municipal election, capturing 60 per cent of the vote.
Lynn Chipley, no slouch herself in the experience department with six years on council, finished a distant second with 30 per cent of the vote. Local businessman Jim Halladay was third.
Speaking after it was confirmed that he would replace former mayor Gary St. Onge, Ludwig thanked the community for giving him such a strong vote of confidence. He added that although he had a good feeling entering election night, he was still uncertain of what to expect.
"From my work on the ground, it was very positive and I thought unless people were telling me what I wanted to hear, it sounded pretty favourable," Ludwig said. "I think at the end of the day, experience helped me out a lot. I have been well known over the years in the community and of course Spectra Place never hurts, that was just a great challenge and a great experience. It was five to six years of hard work and it gave me the opportunity and everyone on the community to get well known and I don't think that hurt either."
Heading into last week's election, the two front-runners were pushing similar but also very different campaign platforms to the local electorate. Ludwig pledged to use his experience to guide the city towards growth while Chipley promised significant change in the way the City handles its business and an aggressive plan for the future.
Ludwig admitted he did worry that with talk of change in the air, voters might be concerned about his 18 years on council and a possible status quo if he were elected.
"When you have been in the game as long as I have, people think maybe it's time to kick the old boy out, he's stagnant, and get someone fresher," he said. "I think with my involvement in Spectra Place, working toward a new nursing home and all of the issues - CT scan which I have been working towards, the recruitment and retention of doctors - all helped to prove that I am very active and I am working toward positive change in our community and I think that helped."
Entering the night, it was largely believed the election would come down to a battle between Chipley and Ludwig and that proved to be the case as the two councillors captured the bulk of the votes.
However it was also evident early on that Ludwig would emerge as the winner as he took an early lead in the special and advance polls which were announced first. That lead later became an insurmountable one when the three primary polls came in. According to the official count from the City, Ludwig finished with 1,807 votes while Chipley had 912. Halladay received 299 votes.
Although she was obviously disappointed to place second, Chipley was gracious in defeat and said she was happy to receive roughly 30 per cent of the over 3,000 votes cast.
"It's a hard choice for people and they have to make a decision in the end," Chipley said. "I appreciate all the support I received. Am I a little disappointed I won't be here for the next four years? Of course, but seven good people have been elected and they will take good care of the city and keep the things that we started going."
Asked where she felt the election may have gone wrong for her, Chipley admitted that perhaps residents were not ready for her brand of change.
"Maybe the type of change I wanted to do, they weren't quite ready for," she said. "A third of them said they were, but the rest are thinking it's going in the right direction as it is and fair enough, it's their city and they are entitled to believe that and see that and I guess we will see what the next four years brings.
"Ludwig knows what is expected of him. There isn't anything he probably hasn't been a part of so he'll have no trouble transitioning into that position."
Chipley said she enjoyed her six years on council and although she won't be directly involved in the decision making process, she plans to remain active in the community through other avenues.
"It means a great deal to me in terms of how this city evolves," said Chipley who added that getting residents to care about how Estevan looks and improving the pathway system is one of the accomplishments she is most proud of.
"They are not small things, I think people thought they were small things and I think we have made them things that are relevant and do matter," she said. "I don't think that will be lost regardless of who's there now. The master pathway plan is there, and I think a lot of those initiatives are started and I would hope they would continue, I think there will be public pressure for them to continue.
"I worked a lot with developers and I am very proud of the fact that we raised the standard in terms of how developments can be finished and how they look at the end of the day."
Ludwig said his first order of business will be getting the new council through orientation and on the same page. He admitted it will be a short grace period with budget deliberations just around the corner and some important matters facing the City.
"We have many issues on our plate," he said. "I think they are a great team. We've got a good balance; we've got some experience and some freshness, some people that will come up with some ideas and perhaps want to go in some new directions and I think that is great because change is constant and we have to change if we are going to move and forward and I look forward to it."
Ludwig and the six councillors were sworn in during a ceremony Monday night in council chambers.
