Only two La Ronge council members were re-elected in 2020. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

new faces

‘New and fresh perspectives’: Only two La Ronge councillors re-elected

Nov 12, 2020 | 12:56 PM

The two councillors elected with the highest number of votes in the La Ronge 2020 municipal election are eager to start working for residents.

“In an election, you get a little nervous going back and seeing as an evaluation what you have done in the last four years and I’m very honoured to serve for another four years,” said Coun. Jordan McPhail who received 578 votes, the most out of any candidate. “I’m really happy with the results of the election and, when I look at the people who have been elected to the council, we have some experience returning to the table and we also have some new and fresh perspectives.”

Considering four out of seven on the incoming council don’t have any experience in serving in such a role before, McPhail said it will be a learning curve at first for them to understand municipal governance and how the system works.

He explained, however, outgoing Mayor Ron Woytowich was really the only one who had prior experience on council in 2016 and everyone else had to learn their new roles. As long as everyone adapts quickly, McPhail said they should be able to begin working efficiently right away.

“I know having some of that experience, as well as having a strong administrative team, we should be able to truly hit the ground running,” he said.

fiscal responsibility

Auditors report finds NLSD needs to work on goods and services purchasing processes

13h ago

JPCHF

'Extraordinary generosity': $1M donation boosts pediatric gastroenterology unit at Jim Pattison Children's Hospital

19h ago

Court

Cries of racism fill courtroom as judge stays impaired driving charge in Saskatoon

Dec 15, 2024

A record number of voters turned out for the La Ronge municipal election this year with 777 ballots cast. The previous record was in 2016 when 624 residents voted.

New Coun. Joe Hordyski, who captured the second most votes for councillor with 454, was impressed by the turnout.

“I’m glad we had the most voters come out in the history of voting in La Ronge,” he said. “As far as the number of votes I got, I think given the number of new candidates out there, I think they reached out to me to be able to provide that guidance and leadership from my experience over the years.”

Hordyski was on La Ronge council from 1991 to 2009 and was elected mayor starting in 1997. He ran against Woytowich for the top spot in the 2016 election and lost by a margin of only seven votes. Hordyski noted its always been important to him to build trust with residents, make good decisions and to stand up for what is right.

Hordyski also commented about the diversity on council as there’s a range of educational, ethnic and experience backgrounds.

“I think we’ve got a good mix on council. It’s nice to see some female faces at the table,” he said. “I’m confident it won’t take long for this council to start getting some things accomplished.”

Other councillors elected include Viviana Ruiz Arcand, Abby Besharah, Ryan Veteri and Hugh Watt (re-elected). Colin Ratushniak will be La Ronge’s new mayor.

–

derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno