Katz re-elected

Spirits run high, voter turnout runs low

VERONICA CARR STAFF

Sam Katz speaks with students prior to a mayoral debate at the University of Manitoba earlier this month. PHOTO: DAVID LIPNOWSKI.

“It's very humbling and gratifying to get the support that the public gave me with such a strong mandate and now its time to get to work,” said Katz.

Cerilli admitted that she didn’t expect to win. “Taking the juggernaut this time around would have been a miracle,” she laughed. “The way I see it now is it all just fuels the fire for me and it makes me more determined and we’ll keep at it for sure.”

Pollock said he feels good about the results, saying he was happy to make a place for people to register their frustration with the current situation. “It was going against the grain of society — but some people like the fact that they have a place to park their vote.” Pollock said he did well considering the size of his campaign: “someone like me usually gets 500 or 1,000 votes — I think I did very well and I don’t plan on getting out of the game just yet.”

Hasselriis had a similar reaction to the results. “I feel totally great with the whole 100 days of the campaign. We were never hung up on how many votes we would get. I had no expectations; we just wanted to make sure new ideas were brought to the table and hold Katz accountable.”

Still enthusiastic, Hasselriis told his supporters to not throw out their leaflets and buttons because they will be able to use them again.

Although candidate spirits remained high, voter turn out rates were shockingly low. This year’s elections had 448,096 eligible voters with only 171,395 participating, making the 2006 civic elections the worst voter turn out in the last 17 years at 38.2 per cent. This year's participation rate almost reached the all time low of 34 per cent, which occurred in 1986 and 1989 and came nowhere near the all-time high of 60.7 per cent in 1971.

“The way the media and a lot of people portrayed the mayoral elections this year was as if it was a done deal; that I had already won,” commented Katz. “I think that had a large part to do with such a low voter turn out rate which isn’t a good thing.”

Voter turnouts disappointed all the candidates. “We’re going to places like Afghanistan to shove democracy down people’s throats and at the same time we are not participating in the institute of democracy back home. That is ironic and hypocritical — very upsetting,” said Hasselrris.

Along with a re-elected mayor came four new councillors, while four incumbents out of 14 lost their jobs after Wednesday. Jae Eadie is gone from St. James-Brooklands after 26 years of service. Eadie will be replaced by Scott Fielding.

Mark Lubosch will be replaced with Jeff Browaty in North Kildonan after 11 years in office. Donald Benham, a rookie in the office, is also gone from River Heights-Fort Garry with Brenda Leipsic taking over the councillor position, although she was supported by Katz.

Another Katz ally, Franco Magnifico, will no longer hold a city councillor position after a twoyear term in St. Boniface. Daniel Vandal, who ran in the 2004 mayoral race against Katz, was elected his replacement.

“We have a lot to do now, and the new group is going to be getting together really soon to keep making this city a better place for everyone. This time around I plan on getting consensus quicker so things can move on a much faster pace,” Katz concluded.