ESTEVAN - Rebecca Foord and Zacch Vandenhurk are glad they took a run at being the mayor of Estevan during the Nov. 13 civic election, even if the result wasn't in their favour.
Foord finished second in the mayoral race with 1,108 votes, behind mayor-elect Tony Sernick, who had 1,254 votes, while Vandenhurk was third with 317.
Foord said people told her they were excited about the potential for new leadership in the city, and they hoped she would bring forward their concerns.
"Sometimes issues get brought up, and they don't work out in people's favour, so people are just excited to bring those forward again, no matter who got in at the end of the day," Foord said in an interview with the Mercury and SaskToday,
She is excited for everybody who was elected to council on Nov. 13. There will be a learning curve for all those who were elected, but she noted when she was elected for the first time four years ago, there were four new members as well.
"I fully trust in our city management and our leadership to be able to ease those people into their new roles, and just make their transition smooth," she said.
Foord has a degree in political science, but she learned so much about how things work once she was elected to council. The budget process and the committees helped her understand how things work.
Foord is confident Sernick will do well as Estevan's mayor. She said they became good friends over the past four years, and they have a good working relationship. If Foord or anyone else has a question, she is confident they can reach out to him.
Vandenhurk, who was running for council for the first time, said that from Oct. 9, the day he filed his nomination papers, until election night was one of the proudest times of his life.
"I challenged myself into something that I didn't think was possible for me. I didn't expect very many votes. I did end up with those 317 votes, which is more than I expected. I am more proud of myself than you can ever imagine," said Vandenhurk.
There are people who are proud of what he did, because he challenged people who have experience when he did not, and he supports and congratulates Sernick on his win.
"He will be a great advocate for Estevan," said Vandenhurk, who noted Foord put up a very strong fight as well.
Vandenhurk suspects the younger crowd didn't come out to vote, and he believes he would have had stronger numbers if they did.
He believes he made the right move in running for mayor, because he wanted to be a mediator for council.
"I did it so I could sit and listen to the council, be the face of the city, and make the decisions accordingly with my heart and with my mind. A lot of politicians don't use their heart, and that gets a lot of people under the leadership of that person a little frustrated," he said.
Vandenhurk believes council members have a little more power than the mayor, but that influence is something he doesn't need.
Foord said she would continue to follow city council closely. She has been interested in it since she was a student at large on council in high school. She'll also continue to be part of the South East TechHub, where she is the chairwoman, and she will remain a member at large on the St. Joseph's Hospital board.
Vandenhurk said he would run for mayor again in four years, and he'll be better prepared. He'll watch the council meetings and other public sessions closely, and he'll start campaigning earlier to get his name out there.
