POST-ELECTION: Did Alexander save Milobar?
Not only was he one of most controversial figures in this year’s civic election, Brian Alexander’s decision to join the race might have saved Peter Milobar his job as mayor.
When the votes were tallied, Milobar edged out challenger Dieter Dudy by just 235 votes, nearly setting the stage for what would have been the biggest upset of the night in the province.
It just so happened Alexander, who during the final week of the campaign urged his supporters to vote Dudy, finished fourth, garnering 251 votes, the difference Dudy needed to win.
However, Alexander is downplaying his Ralph Nader-like role in the election.
“I know I’ll get some blame for what happened, but I’ve done all I can do,” he told KTW following the results.
Alexander said he voted for Dudy, but argued his message to his supporters didn’t get communicated through the media, despite the fact KTW, Radio NL and other media outlets did report on Alexander’s request just days before the Nov. 19 election.
“Obviously, people didn’t get the message that my vote was supposed to go to Dieter,” he said.
Alexander also believes some of his supporters wouldn’t have bothered to vote at all had he not entered the race.
Gordon Chow finished third, netting 441 votes.
Alexander said he wished Chow would have done the same and sent his support to Dudy.
The race for mayor was tight from the moment the first ballot was counted and, in the end, Milobar finished with 9,391 votes to Dudy’s 9,156 votes.
The poll results indicated Dudy took 10 of 21 polls, winning big in South Kamloops and the Parkcrest area, while Milobar had strong showings in South Sahali and Aberdeen.
The mayor, who acknowledged the tight race and success of Dudy’s campaign, said one of the lessons he’ll take from the election is the concern about communication from city hall.
“I have no problems trying to address that and look at that,” he said.
As for the new council, Milobar said he sees a lot of similarities between the new and outgoing groups and he’s already thinking of ways to bring everyone together.
Though Dudy fell short of victory, he said he was thrilled by the unexpected results.
He said he hopes his success will mean a change in the mayor’s office and around the council table.
“I think they’ll take the time to listen to what their [residents] needs are and give them consideration before making policy changes,” he said.
Dudy said he isn’t quite sure what his political future holds, but he isn’t ruling out running again in three years.
“Who knows? I may be back,” he said.
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