North Battleford residents will be getting used to some new names and faces at the city council table.
It was a big election night last week for Ryan Bater, Greg Lightfoot and Cathy Richardson as they became the three newest members of council after voting took place Oct. 24.
En route to their victories, two prominent council incumbents - Ron Crush and Grace Lang - were sent crashing to defeat. Along with the departure of longtime council veteran Brad Pattinson, who did not seek re-election, the result marks a significant turnover in the ranks of North Battleford council.
For Bater, the victory was especially sweet. A year earlier, Bater was third in the provincial election in the Battlefords - a defeat that led to his resignation soon after as leader of the provincial Liberals.
The municipal result last Wednesday was a stark contrast as Bater topped the field of 12 candidates with 1,317 votes.
"You never know going into the evening what the result is going to be," a happy Bater said at City Hall once the vote tally was in.
He was disappointed with the low voter turnout, which he called "unacceptable", but nevertheless sees the results as signaling a change at city hall.
"I think voters sent a message tonight that they wanted change, and even though we didn't see a race for the mayor's chair - we had an incumbent mayor - we have a change on council. So the council that represents the people is now quite different, and people were looking for that and reflected that in their votes."
For Bater, council will mark a reunion of sorts with Lightfoot. Both were heavily involved in the old Battlefords REDA that wasin operation before the province brought in Enterprise Saskatchewan.
"Greg was the chair of the REDA board when I was general manager for eight and a half years, so he and I have worked closely for quite some time in the past. It will be interesting to be on council with Councillor Lightfoot."
For Lightfoot, owner-operator of Hein Financial Group, his victory came just one year after an unsuccessful run in the 2011 council by election that saw Brad Pattinson return to council after a two-year absence.
Lightfoot finished third in that race for a single seat on council. This time out, Lightfoot finished third again with 1,060 votes, behind Bater and incumbent Trent Houk,
This time it meant victory for Lightfoot, as he secured the top-six finish he needed.
"I feel great. I feel very honored that I was able to make the cut and I look forward to working with our community in the future," said Lightfoot.
Lightfoot said he concentrated during the campaign on getting out and talking to the public. "Meet and greets really worked well for me," he said
His message to voters was "I'd like to work for them. Councillors work for the city, they work for the public. I'd like to stress that and that will be one of my goals."
The person who likely had the most hair-raising election night of them all was Cathy Richardson.
The speech and language pathologist, active volunteer and board member in North Battleford was neck-and-neck for most of the night in a race for the final spot on council again council incumbent Ron Crush.
In the end Richardson prevailed with 987, taking sixth position and winning a seat on council by 27 votes over the seventh-place Crush.
"It's amazing. It's very, very humbling," said Richardson at City Hall, who admitted it hadn't sunk in yet that she was now an elected city councillor.
"I'm just so grateful for the support I've had from so many people in the community - friends and neighbours and people I met out campaigning. It's just been a really great experience."
Unlike everyone else on the ballot who had been on the ballot municipally, provincially or, in Roxanne Kennedy's case, in a Métis Nation of Saskatchewan election, this was the first time Richardson had run for a public office - though she said she did run for high school and university positions.
Richardson said the results marked a "shakeup" in council ranks, but acknowledged the work of the departing councillors who won't be coming back and thanked them for their contribution.
She looks forward "to being a voice and being available to people and I hope people let me know what they think and bring forward their concerns and their praise, too, for the city."
The immediate priority for the three newly-minted councillors is orientation and getting up to speed on their new roles.
That should happen in the days leading up to the swearing in ceremonies Monday, Nov. 5, when Bater, Lightfoot and Richardson officially join re-elected incumbents Trent Houk, Don Buglas, Ray Fox and Mayor Ian Hamilton as members of the 2012-16 North Battleford city council.
