When the late Jim Prentice's Progressive Conservative party was trounced by the upstart NDP in the 2015 provincial election he noted in his concession speech, “The voters are always right in our democracy, and so it is this evening.”
And so it was for Brian Spiller during the evening of Oct. 16. His quest to serve another four-year term as the town's mayor was soundly rejected by an overwhelming majority of voting Innisfailians, who reached into the past to elect former mayor Jim Romane.
For most of the past year there were loud voices calling for change in the political landscape of the community, but sorting out exactly what sort of change many Innisfailians were looking at was another matter. Citizens spelled it out exactly on Oct. 16. They wanted a change in the leadership at the top and they did not want the ongoing war that repeatedly confronted council, often with merit but sometimes frivolous, in the name of Citizens For Innisfail, better known simply as CFI.
Voters certainly had their say about CFI, with candidates Mary Flemming and Christa Lamboo failing in their bids to be elected voices for change. Instead, the public, who did elect three other newcomers, chose familiarity and consistency by electing incumbents Gavin Bates, Danny Rieberger and Doug Bos to another four-year term.
Romane's comeback into municipal politics is remarkable. There was a sense four years ago that his time on council, which included 16 years as a councillor before becoming mayor in 2010, had come to an end when Spiller announced out of the blue, and without giving Romane a head's up about his intentions, he wanted the mayor's chair. Romane, initially angered and hurt, soon bowed out of the race, clearing the way for Spiller to be elected by acclamation.
Romane went into that good night quietly, never rocking any boats publicly for the next four years. Spiller forged ahead with admirable fiscal prowess, running a tight ship on expenses and always showing a smooth hand when it came to the town's finances. But was it enough to satisfy the local electorate? Apparently not.
Spiller, an otherwise good man with heart, had difficulty connecting with the people, especially when the public was clearly angered by a shortage of community engagement on key civic issues.
Less than a year after being elected Spiller faced his first political crisis when citizens across the community rose up in anger over the town's plan to move the local dump within a few metres from the Westwood Court Mobile Home Park. This dragged on for months with Spiller repeatedly countering resolutely that council was elected to make tough decisions. The town finally gave in to another location but Spiller's early chance to show genuine leadership was blown, and the citizens never forgot, especially when it came to other issues, like the anger by many over the chosen location of the future new skatepark, and council's steadfast refusal to note anything was even remotely wrong at town hall over administration's abrupt firing of two fire chiefs in less than two years.
No, the people did not forget, and many of the 1,168 citizens who cast their vote for Romane on Oct. 16 are sure to watch closely that his style of leadership will be far different. Whether he likes it or not the mayor-elect will begin his new mandate along the path of community engagement that has been admirably laid out by new CAO Todd Becker.
Since coming to Innisfail in early August, Becker has made community engagement an absolute priority, showing up repeatedly at important civic events, walking Main Street and even regularly offering brief but warm comments on the Province's Facebook site. It is a seemingly unprecedented style that was even praised by both CFI candidates at the election forums.
Romane is a man of a much different personality, a good man certainly, but not as inclined to be overly warm and fuzzy. We do not yet know how he will embrace Becker's obvious people skills into the future. But he has promised to keep Innisfailians “100 per cent” engaged on any major civic plans coming out of town hall, which could include an ambitious multiplex proposal. He was, after all, a key driving force during his previous term as mayor for the multi-million dollar downtown revitalization project, a great start on the first big step to bring life back to a rapidly diminishing Main Street.
Romane said at the start of the campaign there was still much for him to do in public office. He now has that chance. The people have given him a mandate to do things differently than what was offered the past four years from the mayor's chair.
As the late premier said, the people are always right. Romane's biggest and most important task is to prove it - with vision, understanding and humility.
