Joe Hordyski (left) and Cheryl Jeffries are running in the La Ronge municipal election. (submitted photos

By Derek Cornet

municipal election

La Ronge council candidates motivated by town decisions they petitioned

Nov 3, 2020 | 5:21 PM

Joe Hordyski is not stranger to municipal politics in La Ronge having sat on council for 22 years with 12 of those being mayor.

He was on council from 1991 to 2009 and was elected mayor starting in 1997. In 2016, he ran against current La Ronge Mayor Ron Woytowich and was narrowly defeated in a two-person race. Hordyski explained he decided to run to become a councillor after going door-to-door and discussing a controversial land deal he started a petition against earlier this year.

“The conversations weren’t only about the land, but one of the big issues or concerns people has when they complained about something to a councillor, a lot of times people didn’t get a response,” he said. “I’ve always done that over the years.”

The deal approved in October 2019 included a 164-metre by 153-metre portion of land in the Industrial Park sold to Scott Klassen for $1,000, plus $912 for dedicated lands and additional surveying costs. In June, Hordyski attended a town council meeting where he threatened a lawsuit and later started a petition that attracted more than 500 signatures.

If elected, Hordyski would work to attracted more businesses to La Ronge by further developing the subdivision adjacent to the Co-op Food Store and Dairy Queen Grill and Chill. He said a road has already been surveyed for the area which needs to be built, along with water and sewer servicing. Hordyski would also like to see improvements to downtown.

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“We could provide incentives for people to upgrade,” he said. “We do have some unsightly properties that I think if we took a more friendly approach instead of trying to do bylaw enforcement on them.”

Hordyski is a journeyman carpenter and owns J. Hordyski Contracting. He has raised children in La Ronge and he and his wife have rescued more than 2,500 dogs through a kennel set up in their home.

Jeffries seeking to ensure public will is heard

Cheryl Jeffries also decided to run to become a councillor because of a decision made by town council.

Back in April, she was upset with a decision made by La Ronge council for the town to be exempt from a public health order banning non-critical travel to the region due to the coronavirus pandemic. Jeffries also started a petition, which attracted more than 500 signatures against the decision.

“I felt the exemption wasn’t showing what the community was feeling,” she said. “That was something that a few people had decided upon themselves and the community wasn’t taken into consideration regarding that exemption.”

If elected, Jeffries explained the downtown district would be a priority for her, along with creating incentives for businesses to open in La Ronge and promoting the idea of shopping local.

Overall, Jeffries wants to make sure the will of the public is taken into consideration during decisions.

“We elected these people into office to speak for us and I don’t feel like that’s being done,” she said. “I just want people to get out there and vote and make sure you are voting for people who are going to speak on your behalf.”

Jeffries is a member of the La Ronge Skating Club committee and she’s raising children in the community. She works as an administrative assistant at Northlands College and has some post-secondary education.

The La Ronge municipal election in Nov. 9.

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno