With no previous municipal council experience, two contenders for the mayor’s chair in Estevan’s City Hall were at a decided disadvantage as they faced off against incumbent mayor Roy Ludwig during a civic election political forum on Oct. 12.
The duo consisted of previous mayoralty contender James “Jim” Halladay and first-time hopeful Rhyan Hagel.
Halladay made an unsuccessful run at Ludwig in the previous election held in 2012 which Ludwig, a council veteran, became the mayor.
The three candidates for the city’s top governance job, took up the second part of a two-part public forum that included nine council hopefuls who are vying for the six other seats at the council table, preceding them at the podium.
But if the audience of about 100 local citizens were expecting fireworks on the elocution front, they received none as both challengers spoke of what they hoped they could do in the top job without issuing any challenges or questioning Ludwig’s previous leadership moves.
Ludwig drew the opening card from the hat and was called to the podium by moderator Jeff Richards.
The incumbent spoke about what had been accomplished on the civic front during the past four years and that included the completion of significant infrastructure remedial work that was called for following the disastrous 2011 flood and a subsequent significant flash flood last summer that again caused damage around the Energy City.
He spoke of Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP) funds being used just recently to resurface the runway at the regional airport and a rebuild of the north part of Kensington Avenue as well as road extension, city park and landfill upgrades and positive activities to beautify the city leading up to the Western Canada Cup and Saskatchewan Summer Games which the city played host to this past spring and summer.
In response to a couple of prepared questions coming from the Estevan Chamber of Commerce members, who hosted the evening’s events in the Saskatchewan Energy Training Institute auditorium on the Southeast College campus, Ludwig said future growth depended on good strategy that would involve continued communication. Working with stakeholders such as the chamber of commerce, neighbouring rural municipalities and local MLA Lori Carr and MP Dr. Robert Kitchen, were imperative.
“There are plenty of opportunities for businesses to establish here,” Ludwig said.
He added that the improvement of recreation facilities, including the showpiece Affinity Place and the business and industrial moves such as the carbon capture project at Boundary Dam, were proof there was a need to continue to lobby senior governments to gain support for the C of C and the city.
Ludwig said being the mayor meant “you have to put yourself in the other person’s shoes, you need to be able to speak up publicly and you need to remind yourself you are the go-to person. You have to be approachable and remain calm in emergencies and tell the truth.
“It also means you must be collaborative and the role requires experience.”
Often the job requires the mayor to “take the lead from the councillors.”
He also said transparency was necessary when conducting general business and in-camera discussions were only needed when dealing with certain city employee issues or dealings with developers in the early negotiation stages.
Halladay, a former police officer and currently the owner and manager of a taxi company, said the mayor needed to rely on his own strengths as well as those of council. He said he was happy to see attention had turned to infrastructure, but felt more could be done with regards to local opportunities such as rail services, jobs and industrial development while reducing taxes. “We need people to come to Estevan and stay. We can keep young people here while exporting major goods.”
Halladay went on to say that his approach to the job would be straight forward and if he didn’t have immediate answers to questions, he would find the solutions and fix the problem, understanding that “a mayor is only as good as his council.”
“I find time to get jobs done and I don’t waste time,” he said.
Halladay said he felt the city’s emergency response in last summer’s flood was very strong, but there were some drainage problems on Fifth Street that could have been alleviated with a better infrastructure plan. “I’d also like to take the keys away from those idiots who keep driving around on the flooded streets, just making things worse.”
Addressing the concern that he had no previous council experience, Halladay said he felt the time was right for him to step up and into the job. “The leader can make changes, but he can’t go into it blind. You have to know what to do.”
Hagel, a recent university graduate said his roots were in Estevan and he wanted to invoke positive change. He said a lot of progress had been made within the cultural community and he wanted to keep that going.
“The mayor can’t be afraid, he must have a spirit of understanding and not rush into decisions. He also must be aware of the impacts of his decisions because they follow him.”
Hagel added it was time for the next generation to step up and be heard. That can be done, he suggested, by giving them proper information.
In response to the question concerning lack of council experience, Hagel said he would be capable of picking up policy details. “Everything on council would be reported and of course, I would seek advice from those who have experience.”
Hagel added later that when it came to council business “everything is to be documented, after all, we’re working for the taxpayers.”
In his closing remarks, Hagel said “This is democracy at work. Yes, I am inexperienced, but I am ambitious and I will work and talk with anybody and deal with everything.”
Following the three-hour forum, moderator Richards said he felt the messages from all the council candidates, were consistent and the candidates were quite well-educated on local issues.
“All around the world, there are a lot of people who would love to have the right to make a decision about their leaders, and they don’t. An event like this is very important,” Richards said.
