The following article appeared in the October 26 edition of the Guelph Tribune:
Two of four new faces on city council came first in their races, and the other two earned their council seats with close seconds.
In Ward One, incumbent Bob Bell led the 11-candidate race, picking up 20 per cent of the vote, but new councillor Jim Furfaro came in only 63 votes behind, picking up just over 19 per cent of the vote.
“It’s been the most intense two months of my life,” Furfaro said of his campaign.
“I literally walked 90 per cent of this ward,” he said, adding that Ward One covers a large geographic area and its issues are as diverse as the ward and its residents.
He is looking forward to tackling some of those issues, but his immediate plans were simpler.
After watching the voting results come in, sitting with wife Nancy at city hall, he planned to return to his old family home on Arthur Street to celebrate with friends and family.
Furfaro replaces Kathleen Farrelly, who opted not to run for a second term.
In Ward 2, it is Vicki Beard who will not be returning to council, but not by choice.
Beard couldn’t catch up to the newly elected Andy Van Hellemond, who ran away with the race, even beating returning councillor Ian Findlay by more than 350 votes.
Beard expressed regret at disappointing her supporters, but otherwise seemed to take defeat well.
“You can still change the city and get things done without being a politician,” she said.
She is not sure whether she will run again in the future. “It will take me four years to figure that out,” she said.
In the meantime, she plans to keep busy with neighbourhood groups, food-security projects and Pollination Guelph.
How Andy Van Hellemond will fill her seat remains to be seen. The retired NHL referee could not be reached for comment. Another incumbent who was ousted was Ward 4 candidate Mike Salisbury.
Salisbury pulled in just over half as many votes as Cam Guthrie, who led returning councillor Gloria Kovach by more than five per cent.
“It was a difficult day,” said Salisbury. “Not what I was hoping for.”
He looked back fondly on the last four years, saying “I really enjoyed the job. I’m incredibly proud of what we accomplished.”
But he currently has no plans to run again. He attributed his loss to a strong campaign by Guthrie.
For Guthrie, this was the second time around, having narrowly lost to Salisbury four years ago.
“We were a little more organized this time,” he said. “I knew what to do and what not to do.”
The feedback going into the election was good, so Guthrie said he’s not entirely surprised by the win, but “coming in first place – that is awesome,” he said.
The fourth new face to be elected is Todd Dennis, who joins returning councillor Karl Wettstein and replaces Christine Billings in Ward 6.
Dennis sat in council chambers, watching as the votes were tabulated, keeping at least one eye on the screen for the best part of an hour and half after the polls had closed.
“It’s not over till it’s over,” he said.
But he needn’t have worried too much. He came in at just 65 votes behind Wettstein and ahead of Susan Ricketts by more than 600.
“I really didn’t know what to expect,” said Dennis. “You hope you’ve done enough in the community that people will remember what you’ve done.”
He enjoyed campaigning when he ran across a constituent who wanted to talk to him about the issues, he said. He found that people noticed a disconnect between the south end and the city as a whole, and he’s looking forward to being a voice for the people in the south end, he said.