Oliver shocker: Hovanes ousted
The upset winner in Saturday’s mayoral race in Oliver has plans for more community involvement in creating priorities and direction for the town and its council.
Martin Johansen handily unseated Ron Hovanes by 160 votes in the surprising election, which also saw a two-term town councillor and a 27-year water councillor bounced in favour of fresh faces.
In an interview Sunday, Johansen outlined his priorities as the town’s new mayor.
“A couple of things I talked about during the election were a coordinated enforcement committee and making sure we have some action items around public safety in time for the 2019 budget discussions,” he said.
As well, Johansen said he will propose a survey of citizen opinion. He would like to see “a thousand or two thousand people answer questions around quality of life and public safety and value for taxes.
“I think that would be good information to help identify some council priorities,” he said.
Johansen, who moved to Oliver in February, is manager of building services for the City of Kelowna. He said he plans to go part-time, likely starting in January, taking one or two days a week off to concentrate on his mayoral duties.
Hovanes’ defeat is one of the few setbacks in a near-20-year run in Oliver politics. He served two terms as councillor starting in 1999. He was elected mayor in 2005, but then took a term off in 2008, unsuccessfully seeking the provincial Liberal nomination in Boundary-Similkameen. He lost to then-Osoyoos Mayor John Slater.
Hovanes ran again for mayor and won easily in 2011 and 2014.
He has been seen by many a possible successor to the current Liberal MLA Linda Larson, also a former Oliver mayor.
At an election forum earlier this month, Hovanes was asked whether he could promise to serve out his term rather than stepping down to run in an anticipated provincial election.
He declined to make the commitment, saying that he prefers to “keep my options open. … What plays out in the future will play out in the future.” He did, however, declare: “If I’m re-elected, this will be my last term as mayor.”
Hovanes could not be reached for comment Sunday. He was scheduled to fly to Ottawa early today for meetings with federal ministers about funding to repair part of the vital agricultural irrigation system damaged in rock slide in early 2016.
Maureen Doerr, a small business owner who is well-connected on the chamber/Rotary circuit had served two terms on council. On Saturday, she finished 111 votes behind newcomer Aimee Grice for the fourth spot on the four-person council.
In an interview Sunday, Doerr described the campaign as “ugly … there was a lot of vindictiveness. … It was social-media driven and there was a lot of mudslinging and name-calling.”
She had warm words for Grice, though, saying that her younger voice on council will be good for the town.
“(The community) wanted somebody younger and Aimee got in,” said Doerr. “That was just the way the cards went. It’s just tough to take. I’ve given so much to this community in volunteer work.”
Grice said in an interview she thinks her work over the past year in the community is what paid off in her win on Saturday. “People see me as someone who is approachable and they feel they can talk to me.”
She said fears about crime in the community will be at the top of her agenda, once she gets her feet wet. And, of course, she will continue to work toward more affordable housing in Oliver.
This was the second attempt at a seat by Grice. She ran in last November’s by-election replace Jack Bennest, who resigned his council seat. Grice finished second behind former councillor Dave Mattes.
In both races, Grice ran as a new face with fresh ideas, seeking to be the voice of younger families and the artistic community. She helped create a local affordable housing society, which is planning to break ground on a project in the spring.
Water councillor is a position unique to Oliver and Osoyoos. They are elected in the rural areas and attend town council meetings, but only vote on water matters. The positions are usually acclaimed, as they were in Osoyoos this time around.
But in Oliver, there was a fourway race for two seats. Andre Miller, an area orchardist who has been a water councillor since the position was created 27 years ago, was unseated by Parminder Sidhu, who was born in Oliver and says he plans to remain there working the family farm.
Rick Machial, the other longtime water councillor, retained his seat. His nephew, David Machial, finished fourth.