Lots to pique your interest among the council races

By Craig Westcott

The provincial election is getting most of the attention, but for anyone seeking political drama and fierce competition they need look no further than their local council election.

There’s plenty of interesting races happening this month, none more so than the one for mayor in Harbour Grace. It features incumbent Don Coombs, the genial gentleman of municipal politics, and feisty councillor Terry Barnes. They’ve gone up against each other so many times, it’s hard to put a number on this particular rematch.

Coombs is one of the longest serving mayors in Newfoundland. Barnes served as his deputy mayor twice, before defeating Coombs in the 2013 municipal election only to see Coombs stage a comeback four years later to reclaim the chain of office. The pair squared off again in 2021 and Coombs beat him again. Barnes was able to get back on council a couple of years ago in a byelection setting up the latest rematch to be settled by voters in one of Newfoundland’s oldest, prettiest and most historic towns come October 2.

Sticking with mayors’ races, Spaniard’s Bay is also having a hot one. It features Deputy Mayor Tammy Oliver and councillor Darlene Stamp vying to succeed another long-serving gentleman of municipal politics, Paul Brazil, who is taking a well-deserved retirement. Both Oliver and Stamp are outspoken political firecrackers. Voters will have to decide whose fuse to light come election day.

In Holyrood, another long serving mayor, Gary Goobie, is facing a challenge from an energetic up and comer, Laura Crawley. You can read the details in a story elsewhere in this edition.

Paradise too has a dandy mayoral contest. With veteran mayor Dan Bobbett moving on to try his hand at provincial politics, the contest has fallen to first term councillor Larry Vaters and veteran councillor Patrick Martin to succeed him. Vaters is a gifted communicator, who along with councillor Glen Carew, was skeptical of council’s decision last term to spend so much on a replacement for notorious Lift Station No. 10. That’s the sewage plant that spewed its contents like a volcano onto the street and a neighbouring home on St. Thomas Line back in 2019.

Martin has more experience on council and is seen by some Paradise council watchers as the candidate most aligned with the guidance of management at the Town Hall.

Voters will have to decide if they want someone with a bit more of an independent style in the mayor’s chair, or someone more likely to continue the course set by management.

Paradise is also facing a lot of change at the council level. With Bobbett gone and two councillors competing for mayor, only one will make it onto the next council. Add in the retirement of longtime councillor Deborah Quilty and that makes way for at least three new faces, assuming incumbents Carew, Tommy Maher and Deputy Mayor Kimberley Street are successful in their re-election efforts.

Carbonear is another town facing big changes. Former mayor, and most recently deputy mayor, Sam Slade will fill the mayor’s slot again, this time by acclamation following Frank Butt’s decision not to seek re-election. At the council level, Danielle Doyle has left to seek a seat in provincial politics, while longtime councillors Chris O’Grady and Ray Noel have opted to retire after providing steady stewardship for many years. The only incumbents seeking re-election are Malcolm Seymour and Peter Snow, who are among a field of nine fighting for the six available seats in the chamber.

Conception Harbour is also worth watching. Its council has experienced a lot of turmoil over the past few years. At times, there weren’t enough councillors to have quorum, or even staff to administer the affairs of the town. There are nine people running for the seven available seats. Hopefully, that will put the turmoil firmly in the rear-view mirror.

And finally, in CBS, there are fewer candidates this time around, a sign perhaps that most people are fairly content with the crew who served this previous term. But there are interesting races, especially in Ward 2 featuring Deputy Mayor Andrea Gosse and former Ward 2 councillor Junior Bursey. The two were close in the polls last time in a field of four. The absence of other contenders this time will see them vying for the votes that spilled to those other candidates in 2021.

In Ward 1, incumbent Shelley Moores is facing a challenge from retired CBC technician Robert Sharpe. Moores had the bad luck of being the ward councillor when engineers neglected to make provision to protect the integrity of the water system feeding the Frog Pond when they designed the specs for the installation of water and sewer lines on the street. But she has also been part of council’s decisions to install a new state-of-the-art playground on Topsail Beach and has headed many of the Town’s recreation activities over the past four years including successful stagings of the Kelligrews Soiree, Savour CBS, and this past weekend’s T’Railway Trek Half Marathon. Sharpe will have to find a convincing argument to persuade voters from Topsail Hill to Manuels River to toss her out.

In Ward 3, incumbent Gerard Tilley, who if re-elected will become the longest serving member of council, is facing a challenge from retired welding instructor Roland Anthony who runs the risk of being a one issue candidate campaigning on his opposition to quarries on Red Bridge Road.

And finally, at the At-Large level, only five candidates are vying for the four available seats. Given that Mayor Darrin Bent was acclaimed for a second term, as was Ward 4 councillor Melissa Hardy, again reflecting a general satisfaction with the performance of this past council, it’s likely that incumbents Rex Hillier, Christine Butler and Joshua Barrett will all find seats back at the table next month. That will leave retired town worker and Lions Club volunteer Warrick Cluney, and offshore worker Jason Riggs jockeying for the fourth spot. Cluney has run before and came a close fifth last time in a much larger field of at-large candidates. Given that it often takes two, three, or even four runs before finally earning a seat at the council level, the edge probably lies with Cluney.

One interesting variable in the CBS election is the effect that the lack of a mayor’s race will have on voter turnout. As councillor Tilley pointed out recently, the lack of a mayoral contest has dampened voter turnout as much as 20 per cent in the past.

So that leaves it to you, dear voter, to get out and support the candidates of your choice on Thursday, October 2. It’s up to you who you want.