The winner in the Strathcona Regional District’s Area D credits some old fashioned footwork for his victory.
John Rice beat long-time incumbent Brenda Leigh in Saturday’s election. The final vote was 707-587.
“Brenda Leigh has been enormously popular, so I mean this was quite a victory and it was quite challenging and, yes, it took a quite a lot of door knocking,” Rice said in an interview Wednesday with Vista Radio.
“I went out and knocked on doors and talked to a lot of people and I think that’s what helped me out tremendously,” Rice explained. “I know that Brenda Leigh does have a lot of support in the community and it was just all of those face to face chats that really turned it around.”
Rice says he heard consistently from voters that a lot of things weren’t getting done when it comes to water infrastructure and planning.
“Area D, over the years, a lot of things just don’t seem to get done. So when we take a look at key issues like water and water infrastructure and planning, those were easy conversations to have, because we do have high water prices. We’ve had no community planning for 27 years,” Rice said.
He says voters in the Oyster Bay-Buttle Lake region were also looking for someone who was very transparent.
Rice is looking forward to his first director’s meeting on November 9th and hopes to tackle some of the short-term plans by January.
“I’ve loosely talked with my colleagues and we kind of have an idea where we’re all headed but, yes, I’m hoping that January we can come out with some very progressive things and really start moving forward.”
