Four new councillors elected in Brandon

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/10/2022 (1172 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Only one incumbent failed to retain their seat on Brandon City Council following Wednesday’s election — the results of which weren’t actually known until well after midnight Thursday.

Not enough votes had been counted to call any of the races by the Sun’s press deadline Wednesday, although it appeared that former councillor Jeff Fawcett would be elevated to the mayor’s chair.

That turned out to be true, with Fawcett receiving 4,759 votes to challenger Elliott Oleson’s 1,777 votes.

The 6,536 total votes cast represent a voter turnout of approximately 17.9 per cent. That’s an improvement of just one per cent over 2018, when voter turnout was at 16.86 per cent in a race that saw Rick Chrest acclaimed back into the mayoral position.

On Thursday morning, Fawcett said, he spent time with Chrest at city hall for the last few hours of his term, which officially expired at noon.

He also visited Samaritan House Ministries, whose Safe and Warm Shelter is struggling to meet overwhelming demand for space. Earlier this month, overflow shelter space had to be found after the existing shelter reached capacity.

“I wanted to make sure that was one of my first visits, to make sure that we were looking at things and trying to figure things out,” Fawcett said. “It is a pressing issue right now. We’ve got to deal with this. Winter is coming.”

As for the new makeup of city council, Fawcett said it was an exciting mix of veterans and rookies. He also thanked everyone who ran but wasn’t elected.

Chrest said he wasn’t sure the reality of the situation had totally sunk in yet.

“I’m a firm believer in democracy and feel the public generally does a pretty good job of assembling councils,” Chrest said. “That might be hollow consolation for people who are not successful, so I’m sensitive to that. We had a lot of good people running in many of the ward races … it looks like a great council and great mix of fresh faces and experience around the council table.”

He said Fawcett is a thoughtful person with a diverse set of interests. While Fawcett has a business background, Chrest said he’s also very involved in the arts, the university, downtown improvement and Assiniboine Community College.

In Fawcett’s old district, now named Ward 1, The Counselling Centre executive director Heather Karrouze won with 371 votes. Kevin Chambers came second with 229, Richard Bruce third with 162 votes, Jo-Ann Pasklivich fourth with 155 votes, and Jeff Plas in last place with 86 votes.

“It’s a tremendous honour to me,” Karrouze said. “I’m grateful that so many people in Ward 1 have placed that trust in me. I’m humbled by it, and I’m determined to retrain that trust. I think when I had the opportunity to chat with people on their doorsteps, they were passionate and engaged about their community and their neighbourhood.”

She said Fawcett had already been in touch after her victory and offered his help getting her up to speed in her new position. She said her first priority as a councillor will be to get a picture on what issues city council will be dealing with in the first months of her term.

Ward 2 incumbent Coun. Kris Desjarlais was returned to office with 261 votes, ahead of Phillip Emmerson who had 130 votes and Dale Bates with 22.

“I’m honoured and grateful to them, to be provided with another opportunity to serve,” Desjarlais told the Sun Thursday morning.

“I want to thank Dale and Phillip for putting their names forward. I thought Phillip ran a great campaign and brought up a lot of important issues. I hope to be able to bring some of his concerns to greater light for the community with him.”

Desjarlais said the first thing he is likely to tackle in the new term is homelessness and shelter space as winter approaches.

In a text message, Emmerson said the last four months have been a journey and he’s grateful for the support he’s received from the community and his friends along the way.

“I implore the City of Brandon and Brandon City Council to not let the last four months go by the wayside and remember issues that are important to many,” he said. “I urge action to be taken. I am saddened by the lack of voter commitment. I hope that the last four years will not be the same as the next four years. Many good things have come, but many citizens and many areas of Brandon have been neglected.”

Former Victoria Ward, now Ward 3, re-elected Coun. Barry Cullen by a margin of 552 votes to 389 for Quentin Derhak.

“It feels good, it’s an honour,” Cullen said. “It won’t be a big stretch, because you can hit the ground running. It’s not like there’s a big learning curve ahead of me. I just need to take my seat and continue what I’m doing. I’m looking forward to sitting down with Jeff as our new mayor and seeing if we can find some common ground.”

In the only example of a ward directly changing hands on Wednesday, funeral director Greg Hildebrand jumped out to a 551-vote victory over incumbent Coun. Sunday Frangi, who earned 157 votes.

Frangi was the shortest-tenured active councillor before the election, having been elected to replace the retiring John LoRegio in a 2021 byelection.

“It’s a sense of relief, but now there’s a new sense of nervousness wondering what I’m getting into,” Hildebrand said. “That I lived in the ward seemed to be a very important thing for many people.”

Hildebrand thanked Frangi for his service and said the two of them had talked Thursday morning.

In a phone interview, Frangi told the Sun he was “totally shocked” by the results. He said he thought he would have earned more votes with the positive feedback he received at voters’ doorsteps while out campaigning.

“I have pledged to continue serving this community and my commitment to this community has not changed,” Frangi said. “But the result last night was very disappointing … it’s hard to digest. But I think that’s part of politics.”

He congratulated Hildebrand on his victory and wished his former constituents all the best.

Chrest said he sends his regards to Frangi for his hard work and service on council.

In Ward 8, where incumbent Ron Brown didn’t run for re-election after being on medical leave for more than a year, Jason Splett finished ahead of Michael McCormick by 322 votes to 108.

In a phone interview, Splett said he knows how the people who didn’t win on Wednesday feel having been in the same position when he failed to win a seat on the Brandon school board in a 2020 byelection.

“It’s just great that people got out and voted and they were able to vote me in and show support for me,” he said of his city council win.

He said he thought he earned voters’ support because he ran an accessible campaign, engaging directly with constituents. Splett thanked McCormick for running and for the ideas he presented during the race.

Splett said his first task as a councillor will be to meet with city manager Ron Bowles to get up to speed on municipal operations.

Jan Chaboyer will be replaced in retirement by realtor Tyson Tame in Ward 10. Tame had run for council twice previously in Ward 9, and finally broke through this time after receiving 370 votes.

Ben Welsh came second with 134 votes, Olivia Boyce in third with 91 votes and Franco Chartier with 90.

“It feels like the work that was put forward in 2014 and 2016 just got lumped in with the work from 2022,” Tame said. “It feels like the reward is retroactive. It feels like it’s a culmination of everything I’ve learned through the three campaigns that have put things in my favour this time.”

He said he believed his victory was due to putting ward residents’ concerns at the forefront of his campaign. Tame brought with him a notebook while door-knocking and wrote down what residents told him at the doorstep.

If he had lost, he said, he would have handed over the notebook to help guide the new councillor for Ward 10. But with his victory, he will put those notes to good use himself.

The first thing Tame said he would do as a councillor would be to get up to speed with the responsibilities and demands of the job to best serve his new constituents.

The new mayor and council will be sworn in at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 3.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @ColinSlark