With just over a week gone after the Oct. 21 municipal election, citizens of Penhold are counting on their new council to have a fresh outlook on community issues after months upon months of reading unwanted, controversial headlines.
An entirely new group of elected officials, with the exception of two incumbents – including Mayor Dennis Cooper, are eager to dive into reputation management.
“I think we, as a council, have to look at better ways to communicate with people of Penhold and I think that would go a long way to alleviate some of those issues that we're having out there. The public image issue, and things like that,” said Coun. Mike Walsh. “We have our first meeting on Monday, October 29 and we're actually planning on compiling a list of all the issues that we heard, whether it was at the forum or at the coffee with candidates evening at the library, or whether it was knocking on doors.
“We're going to bring all those issues to the table and start creating a list of priorities of what needs to be addressed.”
A fact that Cooper echoed shortly after his Oct. 21 re-election.
“We're going to be able to build a team and work on communication, and work on bringing more businesses into town and control spending,” he explained. “That's all stuff we're going to be bringing to the table and that's going to be important for the growth of Penhold, not only for now, but for the future of what's to come.”
He said the most important thing for new councillors meant branding the team and organizing it so the community can escape the political limbo within the municipality.
In spite of the adversity, the community of Penhold re-elected Cooper to another term as mayor after a competitive race against opponents Heather Klein and Chad Hoffman.
“I've only been the mayor for three years and I'm really fortunate of the fact that I've been asked to serve for another (four) years,” Cooper said with a slight grin after the polling station closed at the Penhold Regional Multiplex on Oct. 21. “I have been on council for 12 years prior to that so I have brought a lot and I've learned a lot.”
Town of Penhold legislative assistant Melissa Daines said the electoral race drew a crowd of nearly 800 voters to the multiplex on election night. She noted that 58 people cast ballots during the advanced poll. The election results were not contested, according to Cooper.
Hoffman was disappointed about the results after the count and voiced his concerns with the future council.
“Penhold made their choice,” said Hoffman. “Let's see how it works. I feel great. Now we can leave the work up to somebody else.”
For Klein, however, the results were bittersweet.
“I'm thrilled, beyond thrilled, about how many people turned out to vote and that's what we need to see every election,” said Klein. “I'm happy that so many people decided to run because it gives people a choice about who to put in there. They picked the right six councillors, maybe they just didn't pick the right mayor.”
Klein said the results weren't what she expected, but hinted about her continuing aspirations within the community and the province.
“I'm not going to fade into the woodwork if that's what everybody thinks, far from it,” she added. “I'm not sure where I'm going from here, but I'm going to regroup and talk to some people here. Who knows, maybe it's provincial, or maybe we just do some more work and wait for the next election.”
But Cooper was ambivalent about the results. He explained the community would be faced with a loss with Klein, a former councillor, losing the vote and no longer sitting on council.
“Heather Klein is a great lady and she was a great running opponent. I know her family and herself worked very hard on their campaign,” said Cooper. “Heather brought a lot to this town and I hope that we can call on her to continue to work on committees and work on our town. I know she's that type of person, so this race is taking someone away from the town, unfortunately, and that person is Heather. I really appreciate all the hard work she's done to move our community forward.”
When asked about his opponent Hoffman, Cooper smirked again.
“I don't think Chad (Hoffman) is going to go away,” Cooper explained. “I think Chad is going to continue to be active in the community and to try to bring points forward to make our community better. I wish him all the luck in the world.”
In addition, incumbent councillor Kathy Sitter was re-elected for a seat on council along with former mayor and councillor Julia King. They will be joined by rookie councillors Cory Kingsfield, Sharolyn Sanchez, Mike Walsh and Michael Yargeau.
“I'm very excited and I'm very happy,” Sitter said in the lobby of the multiplex. “We're going to have a really good team. We have experience, as well as some new people on board, and I think that it's going to be a really good four years. I'm very excited and Dennis (Cooper) got back on as mayor, so I think it's going to be a good four years.”
However, Sitter added the most important aspect of having a new roster is going to be teamwork.
“I want this council to really work well together and bond as a team, so we can get lots of projects done,” she explained. “There's lots to be done, we just have to really focus on working together.”
Candidates who were not elected in Penhold include George Grant, Roger Hovland, Phil Sandstra, Ross Simituk and Gary Yargeau.
But election night was an emotional one for many first-time councillors, including tears of joy from Yargeau and shock from Kingsfield.
“I didn't track my hours, but I worked at it every day for a few hours here and there. I handed out 900 flyers and I went door to door all by myself and my throat got sore from talking. My feet got sore, but I talked to a lot of people and got my message across so it was really good,” said Kingsfield with a look of disbelief in his eyes. “I think it will be a really good team to work with and I don't really, I'm new to this so I think it's going to be a good change for the town. We all know each other now, but we definitely need to get to know each other a little bit better now.”
The first regular council meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 28 at Penhold council chambers. It will follow an organizational meeting.
“We start our budget on the first or second week of November,” said Cooper. “Council training sessions are on about the fourth, so this is probably the busiest time for council. We go through budgets, conventions and orientations so they can get ready for the next four years.”
