Gillingham wins battle of incumbent councillors in St. James
Says infrastructure will be top priority as he embarks on 2nd term
Scott Gillingham emerged victorious in a rare clash of incumbent councillors in St. James Wednesday night, beating Shawn Dobson in a race neither candidate relished.
"I don't think either of us looked forward to or really enjoyed the incumbent versus incumbent. I don't know any councillor that would want to do that but that's what we had to do," said Gillingham, who retained the seat he first won in 2014.
Both men were running as incumbents in Winnipeg's civic election but were forced to battle it out after boundary changes eliminated Dobson's St. Charles ward.
By the time all the ballots were counted on Wednesday night, Gillingham had captured 55.4 per cent of the vote, beating Dobson by a margin of 9,130 to 5,740.
"It's an election, this is what happens. People vote and they've decided to vote for councillor Gillingham that's just the way it is," said Dobson.
The third candidate was 22-year-old Kurt Morton, who previously worked as a lifeguard in St. James and now works for the city in the planning, property and development department. He captured 9.7 per cent of the vote, with 1,601 ballots.
Gillingham had nothing but praise for his two competitors.
"I want to congratulate both Kurt Morton and his team and Shawn Dobson, his family and his team for their respectful campaigns," said Gillingham.
"You know those of us who put a name on a ballot have a lot of people that stand behind us family and friends and so we we don't do this alone and I just want to acknowledge their hard work as well," he said.
Infrastructure big issue
While it wasn't an ideal situation, Gillingham said voters seemed to appreciate his positive, forward-looking approach and his focus on the issues facing St. James.
"The No. 1 issue seems to be the same over the past five years and that's road repair," he said. "St. James is a great community, but it's an older community ... so the infrastructure's older.
"When we would go to the door, we would hear about the need for road repair, the need for playgrounds and parks to be renewed. There's a lot of desire for the work we do on the sewers in the area to keep the raw sewage out of the river, so those infrastructure needs remain No. 1."
St. James, located in west Winnipeg, has a population of 49,118 and includes the neighbourhoods of Silver Heights, Deer Lodge, King Edward, Birchwood, Woodhaven, Bruce Park and West Wolseley.
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Boundary changes were made this year to balance the population in all 15 of the city's wards.
Under the new ward boundaries, the former St. Charles neighbourhoods of Buchanan, Crestview, Heritage Park, Saskatchewan North and Sturgeon Creek became part of St. James, while the former St. James ward neighbourhoods of Brooklands, Omand's Creek Industrial and Weston became part of the Point Douglas ward.
Dobson done after one term
"Well I was hoping for change, I was hoping for more transparency at city hall and I can still hope for it whether it'll happen or not with the same people being elected, I'm gonna have to hope the new councillors will step up," said Dobson.
Dobson served one term as the St. Charles councillor after defeating incumbent Grant Nordman in the 2014 civic election by 1,068 votes. He served on the policy committee on property and development and the mayor's age-friendly and seniors advisory committee.
He was a vocal critic of the Vimy Arena land sale and the plan to turn it into the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre — a proposed 50-bed addictions treatment facility. He was one of the few city council members to vote against the sale back in January.
He was also a critic of Mayor Brian Bowman, who Dobson said had arranged to sell the abandoned arena, worth $1.43 million, to Manitoba Housing for $1 without Dobson's knowledge or input.
Once zoning changes are approved, the province will be able to lease the land to the Bruce Oake Foundation for $1 a year for 99 years so the recovery centre can be built.
"The first term was kind of a rude awakening the information was denied to the non-inner-circle councillors and that made it very tough," Dobson said.
Even though he lost the election, Dobson said he feels all councillors should be involved in making decisions at city hall, and not just the mayor's chosen few.
"I'd like to see the EPC abolished. I'd like to see all 15 councillors to be involved right from the start in everything. Then all the residents all across the city will have a fair say," he said.
Before politics, Dobson was a journeyman carpenter and worked for the St. James-Assiniboia School Division. As for what he'll do next, Dobson said he wasn't sure.
Gillingham looking forward to second term
Gillingham has been a councillor since he won the St. James-Brooklands-Weston ward in 2014, after Scott Fielding left municipal politics to run provincially. Fielding was elected to the Manitoba Legislature in the 2016 provincial election and is currently Manitoba's finance minister.
As a councillor, Gillingham served as chair of the finance committee and the police board. He was also a member of Bowman's executive policy committee, often referred to as the mayor's inner circle.
He's now looking forward to accomplishing even more in his second term.
"I think the learning curve certainly won't be there, it certainly won't be as steep. Other councillors that have served before me that are now retired told me it takes four years to get your feet under you," said Gillingham. "I hope to be able to now hit the ground running and really to begin to tackle some things on behalf of the citizens of St James. and for our city."
Before running for office, Gillingham was the pastor at Grace Community Church in Charleswood for 12 years.
During the race, he said his priorities for a second term included investing in road, sewer and parks infrastructure — not just in St. James, but across the city. He also said he wants to see CentrePort developed.
"The CentrePort lands are positioned to provide new jobs, new employment lands that need to be developed," he said.
"These are important decisions that have to be made."
Opposition to Portage and Main opening
Both Dobson and Gillingham were opposed to opening the Portage and Main intersection to pedestrians.
"It's silly. We shouldn't be doing it," Dobson said last month.
"We have a lot of other higher priorities than opening Portage and Main. We could spend that money on, go figure, potholes or roads — anything."
"I did support the plebiscite vote that will enable residents and voters to have a direct say on this issue," Gillingham previously told CBC News.
"From what I've heard at the door, people are overwhelmingly opposed to opening Portage and Main to pedestrians."
With files from Bartley Kives, Laura Glowacki and Kaelen Bell.
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