Upstart challenger Steve Upham will lead County of St. Paul council over the next three-year term, as 2,705 County of St. Paul residents turned out to cast ballots in the first election for Reeve at Large on Oct. 18.
“The hairs were standing up on the back of my neck,” said Upham with a grin as he came into the County of St. Paul office after the results were more or less determined.
His supporters clapped, cheered and laughed giddily as it became increasingly clear from polling station numbers that Upham would be the new reeve, upsetting the incumbent, Robert Bouchard, who has been on County of St. Paul council for 30 years, 26 of which he served as reeve.
By the time the last polling station came in, Upham had collected 1,257 votes to Bouchard’s 1,020 votes. It would be a two-man race for most of the night, between Upham and Bouchard, with challenger Ben Dyck collecting the remaining 428 votes.
“It’s proof that hard work wins the day,” said Upham, adding during his campaign, he knocked on 1,200 doors and drove 5,000 kilometres to meet with county residents.
But he felt a few other factors played into his win, including his work to convince people that County of St. Paul needed to move in a new direction, sharpen up its accountability, and that, as his platform stated, make decisions based on policy rather than relationships.
“People were just ready for change,” he said, echoing the words of several others who were at the county office as the numbers came in. He felt as though both he and Dyck were able to capitalize on the appetite for change and any discontent people may have had with the way things have been done in the past.
Bouchard could not be reached for comment on the election. As for Dyck, his first comment was that he expected to see more interest in the election. “I was surprised to see the poor voter turnout actually.”
He was also surprised to see Upham winning the election, saying, “He didn’t commit to anything at all. He got in without telling anybody what he was going to do. We don’t know what to expect from him.”
However, Dyck hoped that by campaigning, he pressed some of the issues he sees as most pertinent, including reducing excess spending, lowering taxes and improving County of St. Paul’s communication with ratepayers.
Upham will be joined by familiar faces at council. Division 1 Coun. Glen Ockerman and Division 4 Coun. Maxine Fodness were declared elected by acclamation, while in Division 3, incumbent Cliff Martin collected 302 votes to beat out challengers Wayne Tymofichuk, who had 64 votes and Vi Wozniak, who had 262 votes.
In Division 5, incumbent Frank Sloan netted 307 votes, to Donna Hanson’s 230 votes and Donna Dubrule’s 88 votes. Alphonse Corbiere will also stay on council, after he collected 258 votes to Louis Dechaine’s 235 votes.
The only other new face on council other than Upham will be that of Dwight Dach, who beat out Kevin Wirsta by 185 votes to 94 votes. The former councillor in that division, Tom Kurek, had not put his name forward to re-run.
Working on his relationships with the councillors is Upham’s first priority as he takes on the reins of leading County of St. Paul council, as he says this is “key” to success in the position.
“I consider it an honour to be selected by the county residents to lead this county,” he said. “I’ll do my best to make sure they’re happy with the job I do and they can continue to have confidence in me in the next three year term.”
