Revelstoke 2018 election results: Gary Sulz elected mayor of Revelstoke

(For election numbers for mayor, council, school district and CSRD Area B, scroll to the bottom of this story.)

Gary Sulz will be Revelstoke’s new mayor, while Rob Elliott, Nicole Cherlet, Steven Cross, Mike Brooks-Hill, Jackie Rhind, and Cody Younker will join him on council.

Revelstoke mayor-elect Gary Sulz says his priority is on creating a more cohesive relationship between council and city staff, while focusing on tackling important issues identified by the community. Sulz, who spent the previous four years as a city councillor, said he enjoyed working with the previous council, but is looking forward to the ideas and efforts that will come out of the newly elected council.

“For me it’s excitement because it’s a new way of doing things as far as the whole process. It’s about team building now with staff and with a new council,” said Sulz.

In CSRD Area B, David Brooks-Hill has been elected CSRD Area B director.

Aside from Sulz, council itself will be made up of an entirely new faces. None of the candidates in the 2018 election had any experience at the council table.

Voter turnout was calculated at 46.05%. There was a total of 2,608 ballots cast.

Gary Sulz — mayor-elect

Gary Sulz has been elected mayor of Revelstoke in the Oct. 20, 2018 vote. Photo: handout

Gary Sulz is a long-serving funeral director with Brandon Bowers Funeral Service, a Mackenzie Avenue funeral home. He served as city councillor during the previous term.

Michael Brooks-Hill — councillor-elect

Michael Brooks-Hill. Photo: Michael Brooks-Hill.

Michael Brooks-Hill ran for mayor unsuccessfully in 2014, and since then has attended about a quarter of Revelstoke City Council meetings. Brooks-Hill owns a tree-planting company and works in the field on silviculture work. Brooks-Hill is known for his association with left-of-centre politics and for his involvement with environmental initiatives. Brooks-Hill currently serves as a director with the Revelstoke Community Housing Society.

Nicole Cherlet— councillor-elect

Nicole Cherlet. Photo: Nicole Cherlet

Nicole Cherlet is the owner of Big Mountain Kitchen, a Mackenzie Avenue kitchen, bath and homewares retailer. In recent years, Nicole has served as the president of the Revelstoke Chamber of Commerce, and has been heavily involved in Local Food Initiative works through her retail store.

Steven Cross — councillor-elect

Steve Cross. Photo: Steve Cross.

Steven Cross is the owner of Revy Outdoors, a Mackenzie Avenue outdoor clothing retailer. Cross also operates a bed and breakfast in Revelstoke. His past work experience includes working as a senior manager at Mountain Equipment Co-op. He’s also involved in consulting and teaching an MBA program remotely. His campaign focused on holistic reforms at city hall.

Rob Elliott — councillor-elect

Rob Elliott. Photo: Rob Elliot.

Rob Elliott was a former senior manager at Revelstoke Mountain Resort, but left the organization several years ago. Recently, he has been involved in developing the lots and housing located on CPR Hill right across from Grizzly Plaza.

Jackie Rhind — councillor-elect

Jackie Rhind. Photo: Jackie Rhind

Jackie Rhind is an employee of Vic Van Isle construction, a large local construction and development company that does work locally and across the province. Her campaign focused on issues facing younger residents, such as affordability.

Cody Younker — councillor-elect

Cody Younker. Photo: Cody Younker.

Cody Younker is an assistant manager at Southside Market. His campaign focused on criticism of the previous council and a commitment to communicate with residents.

What were the main issues during the election?

It’s no surprise the majority of council candidates platformed on a promise to improve communication between the city and the community at large. Efforts were made by the previous council to improve on the gap in communication including: public notices, newsletters, social media posts, and weekly radio appearances by former mayor Mark McKee. However, the community expressed a deep outrage during the recent attempt to update the decade-old Development Cost Charges bylaw, with many saying not enough was done to ensure communication with all affected stakeholders. Given that the DCC bylaw updates came to the previous council table so close to the start of the election, it quickly became the hot-button campaign issue bringing both issues around communication and development to the forefront.

A number of council candidates used social media as a way to engage with voters, and much of the discussion centred on issues that have largely followed and plagued previous councils: a lack of affordable or attainable housing, vacation rentals, lack of residential and commercial development due to slow approval times for building permits, wastewater treatment plant woes, and the need to update outdated official community plan and zoning bylaws.

What are the priorities for Revelstoke’s new council?

Sulz is reluctant to put words into the mouths of city staff, but says it’s likely they’ll have a list of projects they’d like to see prioritized. Over the next four years, Sulz says he’d like to see an update to the Official Community Plan, updates to outdated zoning bylaws, and is hopeful there will be a staff report on vacation rentals completed this spring.

“The community has identified these as issues, so we need to honour that,” said Sulz.

However, how quickly and in what order projects will be completed in has yet to be determined. With only Sulz having previous experience in municipal politics, the rest of Revelstoke’s new city council has a steep learning curve ahead. The new council will need to spend time working with city staff to set its goals and priorities — a task that can often prove difficult when it comes to balancing election campaign promises with the reality of navigating policies and procedures necessary to yield results.

“As a previous councillor, I know things take a lot longer than what the community thinks,” said Sulz.

The current council is in office until Nov. 6. The first city council meeting with Revelstoke’s new mayor and council takes place on Tuesday, Nov. 6 at 3 p.m. in council chambers. Like all city council meetings, it is open to the public.

What was the vote count?

The numbers below represent figures announced by the election officer at the polling station

Mayor of Revelstoke

SULZ, Gary 2,216

Wyonzek, Darcy Gail 156

Revelstoke City Council

elected candidates in bold

4. BROOKS-HILL, Michael 1,224

2. CHERLET, Nicole 1,289

3. CROSS, Steven 1,231

1. ELLIOTT, Rob 1,386

HUMPHREYS, Peter 1,027

KENT, Steve 888

MORABITO, Tony 1,094

PALMER, Tim 969

5. RHIND, Jackie 1,222

6. YOUNKER, Cody 1,205

School District No. 19 trustees

1. CHELL, Alan 1,670

HODGSON, Rick 313

LEMIEUX, Janet 1,169

2. MACFARLANE, Bill 1,413

3. PENDERGAST, Garry 1,338

POLSTER, Alan 458

4. RORSTAD, Elmer 1,275

5. ZIMMER, Sarah 1,256

Columbia Shuswap Regional District Area B Director

Brooks-Hill, David 81

Buhler, George 67

Stuart, Doug 58