St. John’s council about to take new course
In three days, there will be a new crew guiding the goings on at St. John’s City Hall, and whether it will have a new captain remains to be seen.
Four councillors have retired from political life, and Mayor Dennis O’Keefe is being challenged by Coun. Sheilagh O’Leary and Geoff Chaulk, a former public- and healthpolicy analyst.
If O’Keefe maintains his position, there will be at least five new faces around the council chamber, and maybe more, depending on whether the incumbents are successful in holding onto their seats.
Four of the five ward councillors have been challenged. Ward 1 Coun. Danny Breen was acclaimed.
In the meantime, the race for the mayor’s chair continues and the strategies are as diverse as the personalities of the three candidates.
Chaulk has a one-man campaign show with very little advertising, while O’Keefe and O’Leary have teams of volunteers and have taken on big expenditures to get their names and faces out there.
Chaulk told The Telegram recently that his blog, which has garnered more than 36,000 hits in four months, surveys, interviews and billboard car are his primary campaign tools.
“I have deliberately not raised money, or recruited volunteers, for my campaign, but have spent about $1,000 of my own money, and many, many hours of my time,” Chaulk said.
“I asked, instead, that people donate to a charity like the Gower UC Outreach Lunch or an animal welfare group, my own volunteer interests and causes, instead of wasting money on signs, ads and flyers,” he said.
O’Keefe said while he hasn’t added up how much he’s spent on his campaign, he said advertising alone — radio and newspaper — is in the thousands.
“Yes, it gets to be very costly,” he said.
O’Leary agrees. She said her team of volunteers has been working for months on fundraising and has been getting donations from groups, individuals and businesses.
“It’s been a lot of hard work. It is an expensive venture, there’s no doubt about it. Signs are a huge part of the cost, and perhaps one day, hopefully, we won’t have to use them,” she said.
Putting oneself in the public eye to be scrutinized for every idea and decision made for the betterment of the community may be more than some people are willing to do, but O’Leary says someone has to step up to the plate, and she’s ready.
“It is a vulnerable place to be, but I feel very strong about my style of leadership and that I know I can enact some positive change. We know it is a difficult task taking all that criticism because you are so far out in the public eye, but to me it’s worth it to bring forward improvements,” she said.
“Somebody has to be brave. Somebody has to put themselves out there to do that and to show leadership and one of the things I certainly hope that will manifest as a result of pushing my name out there is to encourage other newer, younger candidates to come into the political fray, because even though it can be stressful, it is also an extremely rewarding experience because you can enact change for the community,” said O’Leary.
Chaulk, who dropped out of the mayor’s race and then decided to enter again, said critical observations by some members of the community has made him stronger.
“The ridicule and criticism, and at times it has been very harsh, allows me to say back, ‘Well, I have the ideas, education, confidence and experience that makes me a strong candidate, and I believe in myself and my abilities, and that these can be used for the betterment of my hometown,’” he said.
“And I have, at times, responded in a similar tone to that used by the critics. I argue this has been appropriate because if I don’t stand up to the many nameless bullies and critics on the, at times, anonymous Internet, how would I ever be able to stand up for what the city and our citizens need?” said Chaulk.
Because municipalities provide the most basic of services that people use on a day-today basis, O’Keefe says, the politicians are the ones who can get the most flack.
“While it’s very satisfying and most people appreciate the work politicians do, you’re out there publicly and there’s a lot of criticism no matter what you do. No matter what decision you make, there’s public scrutiny,” he said.
“I feel I’ve played a role in building a better city for the next generation, my children and grandchildren and the city of St. John’s is where it is today because a whole lot of men and women in the past offered themselves on the municipal level. And 20 years from now the city will be a reflection of those who are putting themselves up for election today,” said O’Keefe.