Bay Roberts deputy mayor surprised by high vote count

By Mark Squibb/November 11, 2021

Geoff Seymour was the clear winner in Bay Roberts on election night.

Seymour received 1,218 votes according to the official count, the highest of any candidate.

The closest to Seymour was Silas Badcock, who received 1,061 votes.

“I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least,” Seymour admitted. “I was confident that I would do well, but I didn’t think I would do that well.”

Seymour said that folks likely ticked his name because of the track record he has built over the last term.

“I’ve been accessible,” said Seymour. “Anyone that’s reached out with a concern, I’ve returned their phones calls. I may not have always been able to give them the answer that they wanted, but I was able to give them an answer. And people realize that, that this guy is there if we need help, and if we have a question, he’s going to answer it. I think that was a big part of it.”

Seymour said his agenda is focused on core issues – water and sewer, sidewalks, services such as garbage collection and snow clearing.

“These are the issues that are important to people,” said Seymour. “And my message, that those were the things that I was going to focus on, meant a lot to people.”

Seymour was elected deputy mayor shortly following the election.

He said he doesn’t see much of a difference between the two roles, except that on occasion he may have to step into the mayor’s chair should Walter Yetman, who was acclaimed to his position, be unavailable or in conflict on an issue.

“At the end of the day, everyone has an equal say,” said Seymour. “You all get one vote.”

There are two specific agenda items that he wants to see accomplished in the near future.

The first is to secure a commitment from the provisional government to upgrade Route 70, the main road through town.

“That’s perhaps one of the busiest stretches of roads in the province,” said Seymour. “It’s a commercial hub, it’s a provincial road, and it is in abysmal shape, and they are going to have to step up,”

The second is a revamping of the industrial park, which Seymour said has been stalled for too long.

“It’s been sitting there for years now. We really have to start looking at a different way of getting this done, in terms of attracting some developers,” he said.