Roy Ludwig will get a third term as the mayor of Estevan.
Ludwig, who has been Estevan’s mayor since 2012 and a member of council since 1994, was elected as mayor Monday night, defeating Ray Walton, who was running for mayor, and for council, for the first time.
Ludwig received 1,632 of the 2,314 votes cast, or about 70.5 per cent of the popular vote, while Walton took 682.
Any doubt about the result was dashed early on, when Ludwig garnered 450 of the votes in the advanced polls and mail-in ballots, and he grew the lead with support from the drive-thru poll at the Estevan Fire Hall and the main polling station at the Estevan Church of God.
In all three of his mayoral victories, Ludwig has captured at least 59 per cent of the popular vote.
“In politics, I’ve been in long enough, that I accept winning and losing, those two imposters the same, but I’m very happy tonight for the win, and I would like to thank our community for their faith in me, for electing me to another term as mayor,” Ludwig told the Mercury. I can’t say enough of that, and I absolutely appreciate that.”
He’ll be at the helm of a relatively new council. Shelly Veroba and Travis Frank, the only two incumbents in the field, were re-elected, while Rebecca Foord, Lindsay Clark, Kirsten Walliser and Anthony Sernick will be new faces.
“I look forward to working with the new council,” said Ludwig. “I think they’re a bright bunch of local people that will do their very best. They have their hearts in the right place, along with a couple of veterans, Shelly and Travis.”
It’s important to have that experience on council, as Ludwig believes it would be daunting to have a council with no incumbent members.
As for the four new councillors, Ludwig was impressed with them, and he was pleased to see the blend in backgrounds, in ages and genders.
He hopes the new council will continue to work closely with the city staff to continue to pay down the city’s debt. Economic development needs to be a priority, especially with Unit 4 at the Boundary Dam Power Station shutting down next year and Unit 5 following suit three years later.
“We have been working very hard on the economic development side. We have to continue to do that, and bring new opportunities to our city, so that we can help mitigate the downturns in the other areas.”
The people he talked to provided a positive response to the direction of council the past four years, but he took nothing for granted.
Ludwig said the new council will face the challenges with compassion, resilience and innovation, and they will need to hold each other accountable.
“The health and well-being of our community remains paramount. With the downturn in the different sectors in our community, we need to work at continued economic development and providing opportunities.”
He said it will be important to invest and support for education, which will provide a pathway for positive change, such as digital media, new technologies and entrepreneurship.
“We are looking at partnerships with our local college and other stakeholders to give more opportunities, especially in high-demand areas for our community.”
Ludwig said council will continue to work with local stakeholders, along with federal and provincial counterparts.
Council will also have to fight for carbon capture and storage technology at the Shand Power Station and for Unit 6 at the Boundary Dam Power Station, and council also needs to continue to press for more equitable property tax structures from the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency.
Walton said he enjoyed the experience of running for mayor. He had a good team that worked with him, although he was disappointed with the result.
“I still think I got my point across, and part of it was let’s be more transparent, and I still say that,” said Walton. “I’m the type of person who’s very frugal, I don’t like unnecessary spending. I’m still upset personally over some of the spending, and it was never justified personally and probably never will.”
People spoke to him about the expansion of the Estevan Police Service building and the purchase of the former Murray GM building to be Estevan’s new fire hall. And he still wants to see the new Estevan Regional Nursing Home move forward. Walton offered his services to that board.
Walton said he would continue to follow council over the next four years, because he wants to see the direction the city is headed.
“I think we have a good council, and I know quite a few of the people personally. I’m hoping and I know they will look after the Estevan area the best they can,” said Walton, who is pleased with the mixture of male and female, and experienced and new members.
“Maybe someone in that group can run for mayor next time,” said Walton.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced the city to change their approach to the election on a number of different fronts. For the first time, drive-thru polling was offered, with vehicles lined up at the Estevan Fire Hall, first for an advanced poll on Oct. 30 and then a polling station on election day.
Advanced poll voting was held Nov. 2 and 3, with hundreds of votes cast. And mail-in balloting was an option, too. The mail-in ballots had to be in by 4 p.m. on Monday, and once people declared they wanted a mail-in ballot, they couldn’t vote in person.
There was just one main polling station at the Estevan Church of God, and people had to wear masks when voting.
Electronic vote tabulating was used for the second straight election, allowing the results to be tabulated in less than 30 minutes.
