Grajczyk wins by-election

Posted on: Staff Writer

Shannon LeClair

Times Reporter

 

A familiar face will once again be sitting at the council desk come January. Former Mayor Steve Grajczyk was one of five residents to put their name in for the seat that had opened up after Councillor John Rempel resigned earlier this year.
Election Day was on Dec. 15 and Grajczyk unofficially won with 287 votes. He was followed closely by Glenn Freeland at 213; Nicole Gibbons, 137; Allan Auger, 95; and Jason Pollo with 66 of the votes.
The results remain unofficial until Dec. 19. At the next council meeting, Jan. 7, Grajczyk will be sworn in.
“I would like to congratulate all of the candidates for participating. I would like to thank all of my supporters and I want to remind everybody that I never made any promises, but I did make a lot of statements and I’m going to go to work for the town and work with the mayor and council the best I can,” said Grajczyk.
“I also want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.”
Voter turnout was low with only 798 people voting out of the approximately 9,106 that are eligible, which works out to about 8.76 per cent.
Returning officer Jennifer Sawatzky is not sure how to see the voter numbers increased. The election was advertised as soon as it was announced; word was spread by word-of-mouth, social media and through other avenues.
“I think it’s pretty typical that by-elections see a lower turnout than regular elections. I was expecting a lower turnout just because of that fact,” said Sawatzky.
“We did have an advance vote as well so we tried to give opportunity (to vote) and we did institutional votes. We went out to seniors homes and the lodge and seniors areas to try and make it convenient for them to vote. We also had the advanced vote, which we only had less than a couple hundred people show up for and then (Dec. 15) we had approximately 500 people come out. There’s lots of opportunity.”
Approximately 2,500 people voted in the last election, 2013, which is still low when compared withan approximate population of 13,000.