NORTH BATTLEFORD - It was an exciting night on Nov. 13 when the City of North Battleford held its election for council positions.
Kelli Hawtin was declared the new mayor of the City of North Battleford following the municipal election.
She gained 1,591 votes, defeating contenders Terry Caldwell (849 votes) and Wayne (Semaganis) Baptiste (343 votes) in the race.
Hawtin previously served as a councillor for the City of North Battleford since 2014, before vying for the mayoral position.
She will be the first female mayor for the city.
Hawtin was at home with some close friends and family when she learned the results as they came in.
She said the family will talk about making some plans to celebrate her victory.
When Hawtin heard the good news, she thanked her family and friends.
"I hugged my family and my friends here and thanked them for being with me through this campaign," she said.
Hawtin added she is grateful to everyone who supported her.
"I would like to make sure that all the candidates that ran to thank them for discussing really important issues and thank them for their time in this campaign," she said. "All my supporters deserve a huge thank you as well because I wasn't able to do this alone. This took a whole team of people, and the community. I'm really excited to serve the community."
For the city councillor candidates, the winners for the six seats are Kent Lindgren (incumbent) with 1,618 votes, Greg Lightfoot (incumbent) with 1,475 votes, Rodney Fedler coming in with 1,468 votes, Bill Ironstand (incumbent) with 1,260 votes, Dennis Mercer claiming 1,119 votes and Ross MacAngus (incumbent) garnering 1,084 votes.
In total, 2,806 votes were cast in the 2024 municipal election, surpassing the 2020 total of 2,366 votes by 18.6 per cent. The 2024 voter turnout was 22.4 per cent, based on the 2020 population data provided by SHA.
Looking ahead
When reached again after the election, Hawtin talked a little about her plans ahead as she moves into her new position.
"One of our first orders of business will be 2025 budget deliberations," she said. "Following that, we will get into strategic planning to set our goals for the term, based on what all elected officials bring forward as their vision from their election campaigns and the community."
Hawtin is looking forward to her new role on council.
"I will be working full time between mayor responsibilities and commitments to my business," she said. "I have not yet set an in-office schedule but plan to tend to commitments as mayor as required," she wrote in an email to the Battlefords News-Optimist.
Hawtin noted in her social media post that she thanks "everyone who has supported this journey to Mayor Elect."
"I am ready to work hard, honestly, and openly on all of our behalf," she said.
Caldwell, who came in second place in the vote, was not dismayed by his defeat.
"Well, it [the election results] actually worked out for me, it just didn't work out for the citizens here, I think...," he said. "But I hope in the long run, it will benefit all. I'm confident they'll see things a little bit differently once they're all in office, and they'll see what the actual problems are here."
Caldwell mentioned he was disappointed with the low voter turnout for the election.
He noted taking part in the election was an overall positive experience for him as he was able to meet many members of the public to share his ideas.
"I'm seeing that some people in this business community have a lot to offer... There's a lot of wisdom out there and a lot of people, and I hope they take some of my platform and use it for their own benefit."
Caldwell went on to talk about some changes he'd like to see at City Hall.
"If you look at economic development on the city's website, it has a heritage tax benefit if you have a heritage building. That's not what people in business are looking for. When they get onto the city's website for economic development, they want to know that the city is open for business. And they'll help them out to start something, not heritage tax. That's, that's ridiculous to me."
Looking ahead, Caldwell plans to spend more time working in the community.
"Now, I have time to do other things for the community again. And that means applying pressure where we need it to our elected officials," he said.
Candidate Wayne (Semaganis) Baptiste was also not stymied by his defeat in the election.
"I wasn't expecting to win," he said. "What I mean, it's a hard thing to ask people that are not accustomed to ever having a First Nation leader, right? So it's creating an awareness and creating a mindset that there's more to our community than what we've been taking advantage of. And that's the main reason that I ran, so that we could get familiar with each other good."
Semaganis described running in the election as a rewarding experience for him.
"A lot of people got to meet me; I got to talk to a lot of people and share ideas, and let them know that we're not as far apart as some people think," he said. "You know, we've never had that real opportunity to truly get to know each other. And I'm glad that I took that step so that the next person coming after me is maybe not so hard to accept, right?
Looking ahead, Semaganis said there are many people who want him to come work for them, including members of Little Pine First Nation, which will have its election in November of 2025.
"People are asking me to come back and run in next November's election, but I can't think about that that far ahead...," he said. "There's lots of opportunities. I'm still working at the [Battlefords] Tribal Council. A lot of people are happy I'm back at the Tribal Council."
