Election Results Review - Cariboo-Chilcotin

Well - it is over for another 3 years and we saw some surprising results throughout the Cariboo-Chilcotin in local elections:

In Wells - real quiet election, given Mayor-elect Robin Sharpe was elected by acclamation and there was five candidates for four Councillor positions so again it was the numbers game as one would be left out

School District #28 - All quiet here as two new Trustees join 5 incumbents in Tony Goulet, Ron Caskey, Gloria Jackson, Caroline Mitchell, George Natalizio, Charlotte Kurta , and Howie Schonke

In Quesnel - Mary Sjostrom received a 2nd term as Mayor of Quesnel, defeating Councillor Ron Paull and former Quesnel City Councillor Ron Craigmyle by taking advantage of the dynamics of a 3 person race in vote splitting.  Ms. Sjostrom received 1,057 votes or 37% of the vote with Ron Paull getting 955 votes or 34% of the vote and Ron Craigmyle bringing up the rear with 831 votes or 29% of the vote.  If I were Ms. Sjostrom - I would take note of this while governing for the next 3 years, in the fact that her competitors combined received the majority of votes (1,786) or 63% of all votes cast.  Meanwhile - the Councillors is a healthy balance of old and new - in the "old" department: Councillors Mike Cave, Laurey-Anne Roodenburg and Sushil Thapar (this result surprised me, given how negative he campaigned against Ms. Sjostrom.  Ms. Sjostrom has said that both Mr. Thapar and herself will have to have a "meeting of the minds" to move forward in the new term).  In the "new" department - it'll be Scott Elliot, John Briscoe and Ed Coleman.  Overall - a good Quesnel Municipal Council except "Will Sjostrom/Thapar be able to cooperate over financial and other matters in the 2011-2014 term?  Time will only tell" - listen to the CBC Daybreak North interview on Sjostrom/Thapar working together here

In Williams Lake - Some people that I've talked to expressed shock over the re-election of Kerry Cook for Mayor along with re-elected Councillors Laurie Walters, Geoff Bourdon, Sue Zacharias and Surinderpal Rathor.  New Councillors will be former WL City Councillor/Mayor Ivan Bonnell and first time Councillor Danica Hughes.  Personally - I wasn't surprised when I received the election results and this is backed by comments I've received on this blog last night who say that the "Scott Slate" in Scott Nelson with Mike Jacobsen, Mike Bouchard, Steve Forseth, and Paul Kandola was a major factor for them as they voted Saturday.  I personally likely had other things going against me that caused my defeat as well including being fairly harsh towards Councillor Walters after her election in 2008.  Looking at the Mayor's Race - Kerry Cook received 1,777 votes or 49% of all votes cast.  Scott Nelson received 1,077 votes or 30% of all votes cast with Walt Cobb received 747 votes or 21% of all votes cast.  Given this - Mayor Cook might want to keep in mind that just under half the City voted for her and the other half voted against her as she sits down and meets the incoming 6 City Councillors for what lays ahead for the upcoming 2011-2014 term.

Finally - the days of fluoride in City water is over as 71% agreed to end the practice of putting fluoride (an acid) in our City water system.  This decision will now see 7 out of 190 BC communities who still place fluoride in their water systems

In 100 Mile House - Fairly quiet race here, given the 4 Councillors (Henderson, Fossum, Mingo and Hadden) were acclaimed and the Mayor's race was tame.  Mitch Campsall returns for a 2nd term with a majority of votes for him.  He received 257 votes compared to his opponent , Maureen Pinkney, who received 200.  Mr. Campsall who got 56% of all votes cast clearly has a mandate to continue on the course he's set for the District of 100 Mile House since his election

In the Cariboo Regional District -

Area 'E' - Byron Kemp returns to the Board table after his defeat in 2005.  But it was a very close vote as Bill Carruthers came within 6 votes (Kemp 98 - Carruthers 92) of being the new Director for this Area

Area 'H' - In quite a surprise, Margo Wagner was elected over Ron Lister.  Ron had received the endorsement from the outgoing Area 'H' Director - Art Dumaresq

Area 'J' - In a first, Xeni Gwet'in Councillor Roger William will become the new Area 'J' Director after defeating Alex Bracewell in a 148-81 vote.  One issue that may have sparked Mr. Bracewell's defeat was a on-going debate about First Nations' consultation for the issuance of DVP's (Development Variance Permits') in the Chilko Lake area.  This will make the "New" Prosperity Mine debate a most interesting one to follow, when this topic returns to the CRD Board table (and I believe it will as the Board will want to make its' position known on it) and to see how Mr. William pleads his CRD Director colleagues not to give its' support to the New Prosperity Mine proposal, sometime in 2012

Area 'L' - In not a surprise - Bruce Rattray was re-elected in a landslide over his challenger, Tom Baraniak. I never doubted the end result.  At this point (with mail-in ballots to be counted), Bruce Rattray received 387 votes in comparison to Mr. Baraniak who received 208 votes, which translates to a vote percentage count of 65% for Rattray to 35% for Baraniak.  Mr. Rattray has done very well for CRD Area 'L' which obviously translates into his huge re-election support

The next CRD Board meeting is on December 9th where I expect that CRD Area 'G' Director Al Richmond will be given a 4th 1-year term to continue as the Chair of the Cariboo Regional District

In School District #27 - Last night's election saw two incumbents (Will Van Osch in Zone 1 and Patti Baker in Zone 3) return with 5 new Trustees in Tanya Guenther in Zone 2, Jackie Austin in Zone 4, Dr. Sheila Boehm in Zone 5, Dr. Doug Neufeld in Zone 6 and Joyce Cooper in Zone 7.  And they certainly will need to get to work right away as they have lots of challenges (financial and otherwise) facing them over the next 3 years.  One question of who will be Chair of the local Board of Education for the remainder of this school year will be answered at their Inaugural meeting on December 5th, 2011 at 7pm, but I believe it'll likely be either Will Van Osch or Patti Baker, given their previous experience on the Board and the need to have that in the Chair's role over the next little while given declining student enrollment.  I don't believe it would be a good time to put a rookie in Jackie Austin, Dr. Sheila Boehm, Dr. Doug Neufeld, Joyce Cooper or Tanya Guenther as SD #27 Chair, given these Trustees will be "learning the ropes" for the next few months