Residents have spoken, and Grant Creasey is the new Mayor of Lacombe.

The results came in later than expected on Monday night due to a large number of voters arriving shortly before the polls closed, but for the crowd at the Lacombe Golf and Country Club it was worth the wait.

After coming so close in the last election, losing to Steve Christie by just 63 votes in 2013, Creasey received 547 more votes than Peter Bouwsema.

Through all the excitement Creasey said he’s extremely humbled to be voted in this time around.

“It’s been actually really overwhelming. I’m pretty fortunate to have some pretty great friends and the support group that a few of which of here. I’m very fortunate and I look forward to proving them correct over the next four years.”

After a tough-fought campaign, Creasey isn’t ready to take a break and is already thinking about some of the work that needs to be done.

“We have an interim CAO right now who is very capable, but that is a position that is critical to our success. Concentrating on hiring the appropriate individual with the assistance of council is a top priority. We’ll be going through more items as time progresses through the week.”

With only one returning council member, in Reuben Konnik, Creasey said he’s excited about the change and is ready to get started.

Bouwsema who served on council for the last seven years was disappointed in the loss, but said at the end of the day, it’s what the residents in Lacombe wanted.

“I honestly feel they truly wanted a change, a fairly large change in the council makeup. This is quite amazing. I am very surprised at the ultimate result. I honestly felt we had a much better chance at it, but this is the result and I’m more than willing to accept the result because the people have spoken.”

Middle: mayoral candidate Peter Bouwsema spent the evening with family and supporters at PJB Design, his campaign headquarters.

 

Emphasizing transparency and accountability was one of Creasey’s platform, something Bouwsema said may have played a factor in the defeat.

“It’s definitely a possibility. We have seen it federally, we have seen it provincially, a change in governments and people are seeing that as a necessary thing in Lacombe as well.”

“I truly feel we did a good job, the information was there. Yes, we did not have votes that were recorded, but that was a simple change to make if that was the desire of council. For this council it wasn’t a high priority and that may have been one of the reasons.”

Final numbers were 1,964 for Creasey and 1,417 for Bouwsema.

Hibbs thrives, Konnik survives

L-R: Councillor-elect Thalia Hibbs shares a laugh with acclaimed Lacombe County councillor-elect Paula Law at the Lacombe Golf and Country Club on Monday night.

 

Citizens made sweeping changes to the composition of their city council, save for one exception.

Reuben Konnik was the only incumbent councillor to keep his seat, with 1,562 votes, the fewest of those elected and 335 fewer than his vote total from the 2013 election.

"A little stunned that I'm the only incumbent to return," Konnik said.

Among council candidates, former STAR Catholic board chair Thalia Hibbs was the big winner on Monday night, receiving 2,457 votes -- the most of all candidates.

Hibbs said she was still door knocking as late as Sunday night, trying to reach more people and to learn what their priorities were. That persistence appears to have paid off.

"I was really confident in what I was putting out there for my vision -- apparently it looks like everybody bought into that. It's outstanding the response I've gotten, looking at the vote count. It's really empowering, I'm really humbled by the support of my community," Hibbs said.

The new council will be tasked with major decisions right off the bat, starting with the 2018 budget.

Hibbs stressed the need to respect taxpayers and keep rate increases low, expecting many requests with finite dollars to allocate.

Finding somebody to fill the job as the city's top civil servant will be another significant decision, with outgoing chief administrative officer Dion Pollard's last day of work being Friday.

"I can't underscore how important that is. That's a big job for council to do and we have to get that right," Hibbs said.