Three new councillors in the Foothills

Three new faces will sit at the MD of Foothills council table for the next four years.

Newcomer Robert Siewert beat out Rick Percifield in Division 1, Alan Alger won over Ron Chase in Division 5, and R.D. McHugh will replace Ted Mills, who is retiring from Division 7.

Incumbents Jason Parker in Division 3 and Delilah Miller in Division 2 were re-elected, and Suzanne Oel (Division 4) and Larry Spilak (Division 6) won by acclamation.

Parker was challenged by former Division 3 councillor Barb Castell for the seat on council. He said winning for a second term feels great.

“I got a lot of really good feedback from residents, especially over the last month as I was door-knocking, and I had a really good feeling going in,” said Parker. “It was nice to see [the residents] willing to put their trust in me again for another four years.”

He said the campaign trail was long but rewarding. Parker said he spent every spare moment knocking on people's doors and having conversations with residents.

Having the opportunity to meet people face-to-face made an impact on them, he said.

“There were so many people who I talked to who said nobody had ever come and knocked on their door before or talked to them,” said Parker. “It was nice knowing it was worthwhile going out there and putting in that effort in as many places as I could.”

After hearing concerns from constituents through the campaign, one of his main focuses this term will be communicating more with residents and encouraging more engagement, he said.

Parker said he's looking forward to continuing with projects the previous council had been working on. There are a lot of big issues ahead, from water and wastewater to development and the growth management board, and he said he's ready for the challenge and prepared to get to work with the new council.

“I look forward to working with the new councillors, to help them and bring them up to speed,” said Parker. “I know it can be a steep learning curve, but I'm excited to move forward and keep making a difference and making the best decisions we can for our residents.”

Alger is one of the new councillors at the table and said he's “stoked” about earning a seat on council. He edged out incumbent Ron Chase in Division 5 by 384 votes to 260.

“I'm ecstatic about the win,” said Alger. “The people of the division have had their say and they were all looking for a change, and that's what they voted for.”

A lot of hard work went into the campaign, he said. Alger said he managed to visit on about 98 per cent of the 1,470 homes in the division.

Making the effort to speak to people in person made a difference for his campaign, he said.

“It was kind of an old-school type of an election,” said Alger. “You can do the Twitter and the Facebook all you want, but I think people were more excited to have a handshake and put a face to the name.”

He said he's excited to get to work at his new job – after a few days of much-needed rest to unwind from campaign mode.

“I'm looking really forward to getting on with the job and doing what I promised everybody I would do,” said Alger.

Chase said he was “naturally somewhat disappointed” by the election results. After nearly 19 years on council, he had hoped to hold his seat for at least one more term.

Despite the loss, he said he's positive about the future of the MD and believes Alger will represent the residents well.

“Mr. Alger did do a fine job of campaigning and door-knocking, and I respect his thoroughness and the fact that he'll be helping the MD of Foothills move forward in the future,” said Chase.

Mayor Larry Spilak said he was surprised by some of the poll results.

“Of course we've learned over the years that you can never predict the results,” said Spilak. “Things have a tendency of playing out in different ways than what you thought. It was an interesting election for Foothills, for sure.”

Spilak said he anticipates the new council will uphold the same principles as its predecessor.

“The council of the past four years has been a very effective and respectful council – respectful to not only each other but also to the staff of the MD as well,” said Spilak. “I'm confident this new council will continue on that same level.”

Councillors will get to work next week, beginning with two days of training before the organization meeting, when council chooses the mayor and deputy mayor, and assigns committee placements. The organizational meeting is open to the public on Oct. 26 at 9 a.m.

The new Longview council consists of Christina Weir (103), incumbent Carole MacLeod (101) and incumbent Kathleen Wight (90).