I went to bed last night knowing that our incumbent mayor, Iris Callioux, had been defeated by former mayor, Lorne Mann. And woke up to discover that incumbent Wanda Laurin and I had also been defeated.
Democracy works in surprising ways. The results are personally disappointing, of course, but also disappointing from the perspective of having a women's voice on Council. And although there are smart and thoughtful men who have been elected, with only the incoming mayor and incumbent councillor Geoff Milligan with previous municipal experience, the loss of knowledge and experience will be challenging for Council, Town staff, and the many committees and boards that mayor and councillors serve on.
I wish the new mayor and council all the best and will watch with great interest to see in what direction Peace River and the region is taken over the next three years.
Councillors:
North Darling
Rob Lafontaine
Geoff Milligan (incumbent)
Tom Tarpey
Colin Needham
Cole George
3 comments:
Leslie:
I do hope that you will continue to write your blog with a focus on municipal government, particularly in the Peace Country. An opposition in exile, so to speak. You are a thoughtful person and no longer having to maintain council discipline may make you a more effective catalyst for reform than you could ever be in office.
But, I do think it is a mistake to over-analyze the fact that there are no women on this edition of council. It is not indicative of any misogynistic trend in Peace River in any way, shape or form.
From my perspective and I believe others, you and the other two candidates who didn’t get on council just didn’t come across as committed to the growth of the community.
My impression was that the electorate were tired of Peace River stagnating, and the electorate realized that stagnating was unsustainable.
A case in point is the support Cheryl Anderson received during this election. Cheryl Anderson, a woman, in Ward 1 of the County of Northern Lights received 200 votes and handily defeated her challenger, a male and a don’t-change-a-thing candidate; he only received 85 votes. Cheryl, on the other hand, is very pro-development. For your readers who might not know, Ward 1 of Northern Lights is essentially a community known as Aspen Grove, which for all practical purposes is really a suburb of Peace River.
Anon
You are a very bitter woman. You sound like a crazy woman now. FYI.
Thank you for your feedback and encouragement.
Perhaps I did not effectively communicate the work I was doing to promote sustainable growth.
I worked hard to get funding for the Business Vitality Initiative and to support the resulting committees; on downtown revitalization; community economic development; the hiring of an economic development coordinator; trying to get the Peace Oilsands Synergy Group up and functioning; and support for the Chamber of Commerce. All of this works toward foundational growth, not the quick-fix of a mega-project.
Peace River has not grown substantially in the 30+ years I've lived here--the mayor and council's efforts over the past three years, during a global recession, did not create or contribute to "stagnation."
And although there may not have been an intentional effort during this election to get rid of women on council, the lack of that perspective leaves a serious gap that mayor and council will need to consider.
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