From left are new Area C director Terry Schafer, Mayor Ron Hovanes, Councillor Larry Schwartzenberger, newly-elected Councillor Petra Veintimilla, re-elected school trustee Rob Zandee, re-elected Councillor Maureen Doerr and re-elected Councillor Jack Bennest. Missing from photo is newly-elected school trustee Rachel Allenbrand. Photo by Lyonel Doherty
Three councillors re-elected, Schafer new Area C director
Petra Veintimilla will be the new face on Oliver Town council as she joins re-elected councillors Maureen Doerr, Jack Bennest, and Larry Schwartzenberger.
“I feel a little bit sick,” Veintimilla said immediately after learning the results Saturday night at the Oliver Community Centre.
“I’m excited . . . I feel energized,” she added before being congratulated by everyone.
Veintimilla led the polls with a total of 899 votes, followed by Doerr with 837, Schwartzenberger with 758 and Bennest with 754.
Councillor Dave Mattes, who garnered 721 votes, was not re-elected. He could not be reached for comment by press time Tuesday.
Candidate Lilly Zekanovic finished sixth with 252 votes, followed by Jeff Ashe with 211.
In the regional district race, Terry Schafer was elected as the new Area C director. He garnered a total of 367 votes, while candidate Rick Knodel finished second with 270. Joel Malcolm garnered a total of 53 votes.
Rachel Allenbrand is Oliver’s new school trustee, who garnered 1165 votes. She joins re-elected trustee Rob Zandee, who finished second with 1033 votes.
Candidate Cory-lee Mills finished with 960 votes.
Allenbrand said she was “a bit blown away” by the results and the fact she led the polls.
“I’m excited that Oliver has chosen me to be one of the voices for the school board. I look forward to the next four years and all the joys and challenges that may come . . . I’m so up for the job!”
School board chair Marieze Tarr said they are excited to have Allenbrand on the board.
“I have worked with Rachel on the Roots of Empathy project for the last six years and I know she will bring great positive energy, a fresh perspective and a strong voice for the education of our students.”
Tarr said they are also happy to have Zandee back at the table.
“He brings great understanding on governance issues and a strong voice for the role of trustees to the table.”
Tarr said the board has a good mix of people with lots of different ideas and points of view, which will “make for some good debate” on future issues.
Veintimilla said she worked very hard during her campaign, which saw her knocking on doors almost every day.
“I felt cautiously optimistic . . . now I plan to live up to everyone’s expectations.”
The local businesswoman said she’s ready to breathe new life into the Town with some progressive ideas.
“We have a world class destination. It really is our turn to shine.”
Doerr had mixed feelings about the election results, noting she was both happy and sad.
She was sad that Mattes did not get re-elected.
“Dave worked really hard; he probably worked harder than most of us.”
Doerr admitted that she was a little worried going into the election.
“I think I’ve done a good job; I’ve worked hard on council.”
She commended Veintimilla for running a great campaign.
Schwartzenberger breathed a sigh of relief when it was all over.
“It was a really close race . . . congratulations to Petra for leading the polls.”
Schwartzenberger said he was sorry to see Mattes leave the council table, noting he is an excellent councillor.
When asked what attributed to his re-lection, Schwartzenberger said it was his stance on low taxation and bylaw enforcement. Knocking on doors also helped a lot, he pointed out.
Bennest said he was happy for all of the people who were happy that evening.
Schafer said he felt bad for Knodel because he wasn’t able to shake his hand that evening.
“I got to know Rick; he was quite impressive (in his campaign). I will probably steal some of his ideas,” Schafer laughed.
Zandee said he was glad there was a race for the two school trustee positions, noting the votes definitely showed there was interest from the public.
“I’m happy to be re-elected, to continue the projects we (the board) started. I would hate to leave things half way through.”
Not surprisingly, the referendum on Frank Venables Theatre funding passed with flying colours. The total “yes” vote was 1364, compared to 458 “no” votes.
Theatre society president Wendy Newman said they are thrilled with the results.
“We’re thankful for the support but not really surprised, as the citizens of Oliver have consistently shown their generosity and support for the arts, culture and heritage in the community.”
