Former Athabasca mayor Colleen Powell is returning to town council.
Powell won a four-way by-election Monday night to claim the councillor position left open following the resignation of Christine Nelson.
She garnered a total of 206 votes, 17 better than runner-up Barbara Bell, who had 189.
Third place went to Angela Betts with 93 votes, while Joanne Peckham finished with 28.
“I was pleased with the caliber of candidates and the amount of work they put into their campaigns,” Powell said. “We have learned a lot from the four of us as candidates, and if possible I will take what I have learned forward to council.”
Powell said she came away from the campaign with clear indications on several local issues.
“I learned that there is a real interest in keeping the library downtown, and the Brick School a focus of the community.”
Bell said she was disappointed not to have won.
“I think I could have made a difference,” she said, “but it was the people’s choice, and if that’s what they wanted, I’m happy about that. I’m not going to cry over it.”
Given Powell’s margin of victory of only 17 votes, Bell said, “I thought I did a good job, since I have no political background. I was worried about how I would place, compared to Colleen.”
Asked about Bell’s second-place finish, in light of the controversy surrounding her current civil suit against the Town of Athabasca, Powell said, “People in the community are sending a message to council, saying they are not happy with the direction council has taken recently.
“Barb worked very hard for this election, and her hard work showed in the vote.”
Powell previously served on council for 12 years, three of them as mayor, before losing to current Mayor Roger Morrill in the 2010 municipal election.
Voter turnout was quite respectable, with a total of 516 votes cast. By comparison, a two-person by-election in 2009, in which Morrill defeated Rob Woito, drew only 249 voters. A 2002 four-way by-election between Brian Bittorf, Ches Dicks, Peter Fedoretz and Kevin Zahara saw just 271 votes cast.
“I was pleased to see the voter turnout,” Powell noted.
Monday’s by-election results remain unofficial until at least noon Friday.
