Outburst-prone former mayor wants job back
Former St. John’s mayor Andy Wells says he’s milder now than that time he called his archrival “a stupid old woman.” Former deputy mayor Shannie Duff also once accused him of saying he couldn’t wait to “piss” on her grave — a remark he didn’t deny.
Wells’ legendary outbursts inspired Danny Williams, then a businessman who would later become Newfoundland and Labrador premier, to call Wells an “ignorant pig.”
“I had my moments, sure, who doesn’t?” Wells said as he outlined his tax-cutting Take Back Your City campaign to get his old job back.
“I don’t think any of us qualify for perfection.
“All I’m telling people is, look at what I’m doing now. Look at what I’m saying now. Look at what I’m promising to do.” Voters will elect a new mayor on Sept. 26, exactly one month after Wells turns 73. His challengers so far include two-term
incumbent City Coun. Danny Breen and Renee Sharpe, a tradeswoman and self-defence instructor. Incumbent Mayor Dennis O’Keefe announced he won’t
seek re-election and endorsed Breen — an apparent move to stop Wells.
“I think people will vote for progress rather than regress,” O’Keefe told a news conference. “I hope.”
Love him or hate him, Wells is still well known and his pledge to control spending may play well with tax-fatigued residents.
Still, he’s realistic about his chances.
“If age is a factor, people are not going to vote for me,” he said as he sipped coffee at the same Tim Hortons table near his St. John’s home where he arrives each morning at 7:30. He lifts weights to ease painful arthritis and keeps his mind nimble by studying French, American history and honing his hand-eye coordination with regular target practice at a St. John’s firing range.
Once an avowed climate change denier, he now agrees “there’s a human influence on climate change” and says more energy efficiency is needed. Wells cheerfully concedes he’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
“I’ve got my share of enemies and I can tell you some of them I’m quite happy to have.”
He was mayor from 1997 until he left the post in 2008 to become chairman and CEO of the Public Utilities Board. The province suspended him with pay in June as it reviewed unspecified public comments.
Wells had taken to Twitter in the weeks before, ramping up attacks on what he called secretive and wasteful severance, salary and subsidy payments at city hall. His more recent feed is punctuated with nasty snipes. He refers to various councillors as deceitful “miscreants” and calls one a “pompous twit.”
Earlier this month, Justice Minister Andrew Parsons said he was dropping the review, as Wells had resigned from the board to run for mayor.
“I have never talked to the man,” Breen said of Wells. “I have no interest in talking to him.
“People will have a direct choice to make between two styles,” Breen said in an interview, pointedly noting his campaign theme: “Building Our Future.”
“I am collaborative. I work with people. My style of leadership is a consensus building style. I have no time for personal insults.”