Challengers push 21-year incumbent in Richmond

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This article was published 23/10/2010 (5717 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Over more than two decades of infrastructure growth and residential expansion, Brandon’s Richmond ward has been represented by retired teacher Margo Campbell.

Two men, however, are trying their best to end her time on city council next week.

The longtime incumbent is being challenged in this fall’s municipal election by Stephen Montague, the former Brandon University Students’ Union president and salesman, who lost to Campbell by 28 votes in the 2006 election. Gladden Smith, a former city transit driver who now manages a seniors apartment complex, is also challenging Campbell for the Richmond ward seat.

Campbell was first elected to city council in 1989 and says she is campaigning, once again, on her record of getting results for residents.

"When I was first elected, Richmond Avenue had really no paving, Patricia Avenue wasn’t paved, there was no walk paths and really no sidewalks. Now, all those things, you see," she said. "The Richmond ward residents have always known that they can rely on me. I’ve always been accessible to them."

Campbell defends the current council’s decision to close the Sportsplex pool when the Y’s new downtown facility is open as a sound one, financially. She said if people could get all the right information instead of rumours and myth, they would agree that the decision is best for all involved.

Campbell said if re-elected, she’ll continue to improve the ward’s greenspace, walking paths and roads, "basically bringing the Richmond ward up to modern standards."

Montague, meanwhile, says after coming so close to defeating Campbell in the 2006 municipal election, he is now more convinced than ever that the ward is ready for a new voice.

"Step one is re-engaging the citizens," he said. "With the diversity of the ward and the way it has changed, I think we need to look at and change the way we’re doing things."

Montague said the city needs to embrace online technology more than it currently does to keep residents informed on both ward-specific and city-wide issues.

In going door to door during the fall campaign, Montague said there are still a lot of ward residents very worried that their basements will flood, despite the millions in drainage infrastructure the city has invested in the ward since 2005’s terrible summer flooding.

"Just this spring, there was a rain where a lot of residents were very worried about what was going to happen. While there has been a significant amount of investment, for some it came too late," he said.

Residents are also expressing a desire for a dog park, more community centres and an outdoor skating rink in the ward, Montague said.

In chatting with the ward’s constituents, Smith points to the proposed closure of the Sportsplex pool two months after the new YMCA opens as their biggest issue of concern.

He says there needs to be a longer period of time where both facilities are open.

"I think it should be studied for at least 12 months," he said. "The pool is not purely recreational, it’s also used for therapeutic aquasizes and stuff. In my mind, I can’t see how one pool will satisfy our growing city and surrounding area for the next 10 years."

Smith said he’s also been hearing about lingering drainage concerns when talking to ward residents, along with the issue of what some call an unfair taxation scheme within mobile home parks. People also want to see more greenspace and better biking and walking paths.

Though he has made the conscious decision to decline invitations to appear at several candidate debates this election, Smith believes he has been able to effectively get his campaign ideas out to voters by visiting their doorsteps.

"I want to hit every single door I can before Oct. 27," he said. "That’s what I like. To be able to get out and see people, to meet them and talk to them one on one."

 

» This is the fourth in a series of articles that will run in the days leading up to Brandon’s Oct. 27 municipal election. Keep reading your Brandon Sun for more information on the people hoping to be your next councillor in the Green Acres and Riverview wards.