Berry seeks fourth term on council

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This article was published 26/07/2022 (1520 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Another incumbent city councillor is making a go at another term in this fall’s municipal election.

Coun. Shawn Berry announced at last week’s Brandon City Council meeting that he’s vying for a fourth consecutive term in the Linden Lanes ward.

“I had decided a couple of years ago that with everything coming up with the city and the work that we’re looking at doing … I knew we were coming into a pretty important time for the city and we’re just seeing the start of it,” he said in an interview.

“With the first introduction of utility rates [increases] and the debenture talk going on right now, this is just the start of things that have been culminating for a lot of years. It’s now all coming to fruition.”

The utility rate increases and debentures he’s referring to were discussed at the last city council meeting.

To pay for previous infrastructure improvements made in Brandon and new ones that have been identified as a need, the city is asking the Public Utilities Board for permission to raise water and wastewater utility rates and the Municipal Board for permission to borrow $30 million to pay for it all.

Berry wants to be around not just to get these projects to the finish line, but to ask tough questions about them when they come to the council table.

Another of those projects is Berry’s attempt to improve traffic safety in his ward. That includes an ongoing pilot project lowering the speed limit on Durum Drive to 40 kilometres an hour after residents expressed concerns about speed and traffic frequency at a ward meeting last year.

As part of a greater effort to improve traffic safety across the city, Brandon is establishing a Vision Zero task force that Berry has volunteered to join. Vision Zero is a philosophy that aims for zero traffic deaths, injuries or deaths.

“I think a lot of people are worried about some of the talking points, but Vision Zero is all about safety for pedestrians, motorists and cyclists,” he said.

“People think that we’re just trying to mess around with traffic speeds, this and that and everything else, but it’s not about that. It’s all about safety.”

Asked if Mayor Rick Chrest’s impending retirement tempted him to run for mayor, he said he believed that everyone on council has been poked or prodded by residents to run for the role at this point.

He said he has been asked and he gave it some consideration, but came to the conclusion that he’s just as valuable as a councillor rather than as mayor.

At this point, he’s not ready to endorse anyone for the top job just yet.

On the subject of improving voter turnout, which was low in 2018 and even lower in last year’s Meadows-Waverly byelection, Berry said he believes plebiscites could be one route to engaging the public.

The last time Brandon had a good voter turnout, Berry believes, is when the ballot featured a question on whether citizens wanted a casino in town.

He doesn’t believe they should necessarily be binding, but he thinks that asking residents what they think on issues like bringing a new outdoor water park to town or whether to rename places in town — like Rosser Avenue — could help fire up the electorate.

With Berry announcing his intention to run, the plans of all current members of city council save one have been identified.

Mayor Rick Chrest and Coun. Jan Chaboyer (Green Acres) are retiring rather than run again. Coun. Jeff Fawcett (Assiniboine) is running for the vacant mayor’s chair.

Councillors Sunday Frangi (Meadows-Waverly), Shaun Cameron (University), Kris Desjarlais (Rosser), Barry Cullen (Victoria), Glen Parker (Riverview), Bruce Luebke (South Centre) are all running for re-election.

Coun. Ron Brown (Richmond), who has been on a medical leave of absence since May 2021, has not announced whether he intends to run again.

Franco Chartier and Tyson Tame are running in the Green Acres ward, and Quentin Derhak has registered to run in Victoria ward.

Election day is Oct. 26.

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