David Lopez enjoys a warm welcome as a new member of the Rotary Club of Lloydminster. File Photo
A swearing-in ceremony at City Hall is in the works on Feb. 20 to welcome David Lopez as the city’s new councillor following his landslide win in Tuesday’s by-election.
Lopez garnered a total of 736 votes, ahead of runner-up Fred Sirett with 367 votes and Darrell Dunn in third with 189, among the eight candidates in the race for one seat.
“I was excited and humbled at the same time,” said Lopez who will be sworn in at 11 a.m. with more details to follow.
He also took a moment to reflect on the key to his winning campaign platform.
“I think it’s fiscal responsibility, wanting to make sure the tax dollars that are being spent are spent in a manner that is good for everybody,” said Lopez.
“I think people resonated with what I was saying.”
The other voting results were Leo Aguinaldo 154, Ben Harrisons 119, Stan Bugiera 56, Corey McKee 9 and Hamid Rahmanian 6.
The vote count includes results from a mobile poll, an advance poll and by-election day.
Lopez is now looking forward to a day’s worth of meetings, lectures and seminars to bring him up to speed on how city council and City Hall works.
He can’t wait to get down to business at his first council meeting on Feb. 26 and share what he can bring to the table.
“I think I will bring the perspective of a small business owner, someone that wants to make sure that every dollar spent is in an appropriate manner,” said Lopez.
The 48-year-old Lloydminster resident calls himself an entrepreneur who runs restaurants, a construction company and does property management and rentals in Lloyd.
As for the other candidates, Lopez said, “Thank you for putting your name out and showing there’s people that are concerned with what’s happening in the city—and we all want to make a change and make this the best place to live.”
Sirett, meanwhile, is already campaigning to seek a seat on council in the Nov. 13 municipal election.
“I have a passion to be on city council so that was always the plan,” said Sirett who congratulated Lopez.
“I wish him all the best and I hope he fits in. I’ve run on the platform of bringing the people and City Hall together and I hope he listens to the people.”
Sirett is among a group of concerned citizens who planned to present a petition to City Hall on Wednesday, advocating the city does not take out a $3.1 million loan to build a maintenance shed at the Lloydminster Golf and Curling Club.
“It will be a hot issue and I hope David listens to the people,” he said.
Sirett also let on he was disappointed by his second-place result in the balloting, partly blaming low voter turnout with only 1,636 votes cast out of 20,000 eligible voters in the city.
“I felt we did better. We door knocked, we went to the businesses and had a lot of support and I don’t feel people came out and voted,” he said.
“But I am a bit disappointed because I hear a lot of people that have concerns and they need to come out and vote whether it’s for me or David or the next guy.”
He calls voter apathy one of the weaknesses of our democracy.
“People aren’t availing themselves of the vote; let alone they don’t know the issues that each person is talking about, they don’t even know the guys,” said Sirett.
“There’s a great pool of ignorance there and it’s a very important thing.”
