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A fascinating race
?It was going to be an interesting election, anyway, no matter who Bob Shepherd’s opponent ended up being. But when Regional Councillor Howie Herrema opted not to go for the mayor’s chair (not this time, anyway) and cleared the decks for long-time Council head Gerri Lynn O’Connor to make her comeback bid for the mayoralty (she wouldn’t run against Mr. Herrema), it instantly created one of the most exciting municipal elections we’ll have seen around here in a very long time.
And that’s if it’s just a two-person race. If Jack Ballinger joins the fray as well, as he hints he might in Mr. Varley’s story on page one, it will make the battle even more fascinating to watch. Some have speculated Mr. Ballinger, should he choose to go for mayor, would be counting on Mr. Shepherd and Ms. O’Connor to split the vote sufficiently for him to victoriously sidle up the middle. But the long-time Legion President may not have to worry about that at all; he certainly has enough of a constituency to win the contest on his own.
One factor that all three of these candidates might have to worry about is if a younger person emerges to challenge them. Mr. Herrema would have appealed to the under-40s in the electorate; in the field of three above, there is no one to fill that role, although Ms. O’Connor, despite her decades of experience, is still younger than the gentlemen. A dynamic, articulate, young candidate might make the race even more complex.
Meanwhile, over in the regional councillor’s chair, the race is wide open, since Mr. Herrema, long-time occupant Susan Self, and Ms. O’Connor have all chosen to go in other directions. Even if Mr. Ballinger chooses to file for that position, but especially if he doesn’t, we expect at least one of the other incumbent ward councillors to contest it as well. That will open up two of the Ward seats (including Mr. Ballinger’s Ward 4 in the south of Uxbridge town, which had the most combatants in 2006 with six).
Ward 2 (the northwest part of the Township) was the closest race last time, with only 22 votes separating victor Ted Eng from Ed Beach. With high-profile candidate Pat Molloy already declared in that ward, it should be fun again. Ward 5, meanwhile, was the most evely-contested in the election, and if it attracts some of the people we’ve heard rumours about, the race there should live up to its reputation.
In Wards 1 and 3, the only women on Council, Bev Northeast and Pat Mikuse, have been among the most visibly hard-working representatives, both in their wards and in the community as a whole. Unless they choose to move up or retire, their wards should be theirs to win or lose.
On the surface of it, the most surprising development thus far would be Mr. Herrema’s decision to step back after 10 years on Council. His well-deserved popularity - he’s probably the most savvy and sardonic of the incumbents - would have given him an edge no matter what race he entered. But if his farm and family needed him more than we did, we applaud his resistance to the temptations of power. Anyway, we still have him for nine more months, and can look forward to his return in future years.
In the meantime, he can watch amusedly from the sidelines as his present and former colleagues fight it out in the Election of the Century (so far).
