Ernie Sirski is the new Reeve for the Rural Municipality of Dauphin.

Sirski beat Tom Gibbs in last Wednesday’s election, with 458 votes, compared to 383 for Gibbs. In terms of percentages, Sirski won with 54.46 per cent to 45.54 for Gibbs.

Sirski admitted he is both excited and apprehensive about his election win.

“As most people know, I’ve never been involved in municipal politics, but I’ve been involved in a lot of organizations over my somewhat long tenure in farm politics,” he said. “So I’m excited. I’m looking forward to dealing with our residents.”

Sirski is also looking forward to working with the new council.

“I’m excited to dealing with our new council. We have a great council going forward. We’ve got youth. We’ve got experience. We’ve got incumbents. And they’ve got a leader who’s probably older than most of them put together,” he said. “I’m looking forward to being part of this rural municipality and, hopefully, contributing something in a positive manner.”

It does not matter if you win by one vote or 100, Sirski said, winning an election makes you feel good about yourself. And he was expecting a close race with Gibbs.

“I’ve known Tom a long time. I’ve known Tom for probably 30 years. I have a great deal of respect for him. He’s put his time in on the rural council. So I wasn’t the least bit surprised that it was this close,” he said.

Running in this year’s election was a good learning experience, Sirski said, adding he is looking forward to dealing with surrounding municipalities and the City of Dauphin, as well.

“So that we have mutual benefit for all our citizens,” he said.

Sirski expects he and the new council will be sworn in within the next couple of weeks.

Elected to council were Tammy Koshowski (596 votes), Todd Boguski (546), Midge Sametz (540), Ron Ryz (516), Ken Shewchuk (431) and Ken Plustwa (426). Also running, but not elected were Jack Bremner (413), David Johnson, (349), Darrell Inkster (134) and Wilf Kachurowski (130).

Both the City and RM of Dauphin have new leadership.

Below are the results. Be sure to check next week's Dauphin Herald for plenty more!

 

 

OTHER PARKLAND MUNICIPALITIES 

The Parkland Chamber of Commerce hosted a public forum featuring eight of the 10 candidates running in the Rural Municipality of Dauphin election, as well as the two candidates running for Reeve, Tom Gibbs and Ernie Sirski.

Each of the council and reeve hopefuls had the opportunity to answer submitted questions, while Gibbs and Sirski also had the chance to ask each other a couple of questions.

Check the Dauphin Herald's Election Section this week for more on the upcoming Municipal Election.

With the registration period now closed the Oct. 26 municipal and school board election is coming into focus.

And when it comes to the City of Dauphin council race that means a crowded ballot.

Last week, prior to the end of the nomination period, 16 candidates had registered their intention to seek a council seat, senior election official Kirk Dawson said, adding candidates still have a limited amount of time to drop out of the race.

Currently the six council seats are being contested by Jason Alf, Randy Daley, Steve Sobering, Sharon Riehl, Carter Taylor-Luke, Ted Rea, Michael Winter, Joseph Houston, Kathy Bellemare, Rodney Juba, Patti Eilers, Devin Shtykalo, Christian Laughland, Bev Sarkonak, Ken Tarrant and Tamara Michelle.

The mayor’s race will officially feature two candidates in David Bosiak and Kerri Riehl,

Over in the Rural Municipality of Dauphin the reeve’s chair is being sought by two candidates in Ernie Sirski and Tom Gibbs.

RM voters will have some choices to make when it comes to filling the council table with Todd Boguski, David Johnson, John Bremner, Ken Shewchuk, Midge Sametz, Ken Plustwa, Ron Ryz, Jarri Thompson and Wilf Katchurowski all seeking a seat.

In terms of the race for school board trustees, only one candidate had returned their nomination papers as of last week, Floyd Martens in Ward 1 Roblin.

The list of local candidates in the upcoming Manitoba municipal elections is growing.

In the city of Dauphin there is still just two contestants in the mayoralty race - David Bosiak and Kerri Riehl.

While several packages have been picked up and remain outstanding, those registered for the councillor vote include Jason Alf, Randy Daley, Ted Rea, Joe Houston, Michael Winter, Bev Sarkonak, Sharon Riehl and Carter Taylor-Luke.

In the Rural Municipality of Dauphin, Ernie Sirski and Tom Gibbs have registered in the race for reeve, while council papers have been filed by Jack Bremner, Ken Shewchuk, Midge Sametz, Ken Plustwa and Ron Ryz.

The race for school board trustees has yet to register a candidate although Senior Election Official Kirk Dawson says several packages have been picked up by potential candidates.