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Mark Heyck Yellowknife's 14th mayor Only two incumbent councillors returned for another term Laura Busch Northern News Services Published Monday, Oct 15, 2012
Heyck took an early lead during Monday's municipal election and neither of his opponents were able to catch up. The final tally saw Heyck prevail with a commanding vote count of 2,008, while self-proclaimed candidate for change Tim Doyle finished in second place with 1,465 votes. For Paul Falvo, who risked his spot on council in his bid to become mayor, the gamble didn't pay off as he finished third with 816 votes. "I feel very excited and honoured and humbled with the support the public showed," said Heyck, shortly after arriving at city hall to acknowledge his victory. "I think it was a great opportunity, the elections always are, to bring up some important issues that are of concern to the city and I think we have some things to work on at city hall but I'm looking forward to leading that effort as mayor." Doyle told Yellowknifer that, while he was disappointed with Monday night's results, he learned a lot from Yellowknife voters along the way, especially in going door to door. "If you look at the number of votes my team picked up, it was roughly the amount who vote 'no' on the Con Mine geothermal project," said Doyle. "There are some clear voices out there who have said 'no' and whoever the mayor and council is they are going to have to pay attention to that." Doyle said he felt his campaign picked up momentum later in the campaign, and "if we had had a couple more weeks, you may have seen very different results." Paul Falvo also put in an appearance at city hall, even after it became clear he would finish a distant third place. "I think Mark's going to do an awesome job and I think Tim raised some really important issues that will need to be paid attention to going forward," he told Yellowknifer. "I'm going to get Monday evenings off now but I'm not going anywhere." Fresh faces elected to council Voters seemed to like what many first-time council candidates had to say during the campaign, as two of the four incumbent candidates were pushed aside for some new blood. Dan Wong, running in his first council campaign and second political campaign in Yellowknife, received the most votes of any council candidate, which he said caught him by surprise. "I was one of the top candidates but I had the top team," he said. "I've wanted this for a long time and I'm ready for this. So, it's really been a natural progression to get to this point from that 18 year old from that kid who wanted to be MLA. "I think Yellowknife has spoken loudly that there's a mean green streak running through this city. People are not happy with the cost of living here and, you know, they want a safer and a cleaner downtown." Joining Wong as newcomers to council are Adrian Bell, Niels Konge, Rebecca Alty, Phil Moon Son, and Linda Bussey. Incumbent Bob Brooks won a second term on council, finishing fifth, while Cory Vanthuyne hung onto to seventh place for a second term. Couns. Amanda Mallon and Lydia Bardak came in ninth and 10th place, respectively, while Beaton Mackenzie and Ian Mathers received the least amount of votes.
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