The faces may be changing on council, but almost all of the six councillors have spent a significant amount of time in council chambers in years past.

Along with voting to re-elect Jocelyn Curteanu with a resounding 2,662 votes and Betty Irwin with 2,457 votes, former councillors Dan Boyd and Samson Hartland are being welcomed back after more than a decade’s absence.

Boyd, who took fifth place with 2,078 votes, served as a councillor from 1994 to 2000.

Hartland, who took the final sixth spot on council with 1,959 votes in his favour, was a councillor from 2000 to 2003.

Newcomer Rob Fendrick is no stranger to city hall as the former director of corporate services. He placed second last night with 2,556 votes.

Roslyn Woodcock, who was just three votes away from the final sixth place seat in 2012, ensured her seat on council this time around, placing fourth with 2,156 votes in her favour.

This will be the first council in more than three decades – 11 council terms – that will not see outgoing councillor Dave Stockdale take a seat at the council table. He finished seventh, with 1,913 votes.

From the first results that came in last night, Curteanu, Fendrick and Irwin held their top three spots, their order not changing.

Despite the dominant lead as results flowed in, Curteanu admitted she was anxious and did not want to predict the outcome, though she noted she was already humbled by the support.

Sitting and talking with family as well as other council-hopefuls inside council chambers, her young daughter appeared happy to take on the job of getting a photo of the results projected onto a screen and reporting back to her mother throughout the evening as the numbers rolled in.

A technical glitch with the city’s website meant IT staff had to bring in a flashdrive to display the results, which were unable to be in presented in order of votes.

Coun. John Streicker, who didn’t run for a second term, and Mike Gau, the city’s director of development services, worked on a spread sheet to rank the candidates as results arrived.

“I’m so grateful to the citizens of Whitehorse,” Curteanu said as the results continued to put her in first place.

When all was said and done, she commented that being elected with so much support only makes her want to work twice as hard as she heads into her second term.

“I’m so thrilled,” she said.

Her overwhelming win came despite less campaigning this time around, she said, explaining commitments to her full-time job did not allow her to campaign like she had in 2012.

Rather, it was her hope her work as a councillor over the last three years would earn her the support and trust of voters, she said.

Curteanu also noted she’s pleased to see three women elected to council. She pointed to statistics that show women represent just 25 per cent of elected representatives, though they make up 50 per cent of the population.

“This is a great step forward, for sure,” she said.

Fendrick and Irwin, meanwhile, opted to try to take in the results from home, though that was not without its difficulties, given the website glitch.

While Fendrick said he thought he would go down to city hall later in the evening, the congratulatory calls started coming in and he couldn’t get there in time.

This morning, Fendrick was setting his sights on the next three years, stating he was pleased with the results and looking forward to “working positively” with mayor and council.

“There’s a lot of experience on that council now,” he said, pointing to the incumbent and former councillors elected and stating he’d been impressed with Woodcock’s campaign.

Fendrick said he hopes to soon begin work on a potential attainable housing project he put forward in his campaign that could see the city access funds through the Yukon Housing Corp. for a six-unit pilot project.

If work starts now, there may be something in three years, he said, acknowledging the length of time such projects can take.

He also wants to work toward winter snow-clearing on the Millennium Trail, making it more accessible for those wanting to get outside in the winter. He has a list of both bigger and smaller initiatives he hopes to work on in a number of areas.

Throughout an interview this morning, Fendrick remained focused on those potential projects as he has throughout his campaign.

Fired without cause by city manager Christine Smith earlier this year, Fendrick has said in the past he’s ready to move on to a new chapter in his life, hoping to serve on city council.

With that reality now before him, he reiterated that focus, noting he had a long, “very cordial” conversation with the city manager recently.

“I have no axe to grind,” he said.

Irwin said she was “absolutely just overwhelmed” by the support, and is happy to continue into a third term of office.

“I think we have a great team,” she said, citing the mix of experience the new council will bring to city hall.

“I’m just really, really happy to be back,” Irwin commented.

While the top three candidates for councillor were obvious from the start, it was not so for the final three seats.

With half of the 12 polls reporting, just 104 votes separated the only four who were truly in the race for the final three.

Numbers for Roslyn Woodcock never let go of the lead among the four. But it wasn’t known until the last two polls reported that Samson Hartland had unseated the 32-year incumbent Stockdale by 46 votes.

As the results were displayed at city hall inside council chambers, at one point, just three votes separated Hartland and Stockdale, as the two sat next to each other for a short time, exchanging pleasantries and chuckling.

“I am not thrilled, but I am not disappointed,” Stockdale said in an interview shortly after the final results were flashed on the screen.

He said among the first orders of business will be sorting through three decades of paperwork he’s amassed in his basement as a city councillor and returning it to city hall.

“It’s the end of an era,” Curtis said last night. “We all owe him a great degree of gratitude.”

Incumbent councillors Curteanu and Irwin also applauded the veteran councillor. Irwin pointed to the longtime knowledge he brought to council and the assistance he offered to more recent arrivals, like herself.

“I’m going to miss Dave,” she said, with Curteanu echoing the sentiment in a separate interview.

Curteanu praised Stockdale, noting the sometimes “impulsive” retired educator doesn’t hold a grudge, and will move on if a vote doesn’t go his way.

For both Boyd and Hartland, their victories signal a return to city council after many years living outside of the political spotlight they once shared.

Boyd was first elected to council in 1994. He was re-elected in 1997 but decided to step aside after his second term.

Following his retirement from a career with the Yukon government, with more time to dedicate to city hall, he felt another shot at council would give him as fresh opportunity to serve his community again.

Boyd said last night he has some priorities, and like most publicly elected representatives, money is at the top of the list.

“I really want to dig into these budgets and control spending,” he said after the final results were in, as council chambers was abuzz with handshakes and hugs for the winning candidates and for those who didn’t make the cut.

“I want to find out where the money is going, make sure we are spending it in the right places and trying not to let taxes go up.”

Boyd said from what he has seen reviewing the city’s financial reports leading up the election, spending is going up disproportionately in certain areas.

“We have to learn how to control those expenditures.” (See related story, p. 16.)

He said building up what at times has been a rocky relationship with the Yukon government is of the utmost importance.

“It’s hard to do anything in Whitehorse without the governments working together,” he said. “Both governments can block each other if they choose, and we have seen it.”

Hartland said as he returns to public office following a 15-year hiatus, he’s more mature, and more grounded.

He has a flourishing family life and a solid professional career as executive director of the Yukon Chamber of Mines.

Several residents asked him to consider running again, and he felt another term in office would be a perfect way to serve the community.

Topping his agenda is re-opening the discussion on the proposal for an outdoor soccer complex in the Whistle Bend subdivision, just as he promised in his election campaign.

Hartland said strengthening relationships with all levels of government – federal, territorial and First Nations – is imperative.

So many issues, such as affordable housing and vulnerable residents, are not technically within city council’s mandate, but in reality, everybody has a duty to address the social issues, he suggested, with his eight-year-old, Cadence, by his side.

Becoming the youngest city councillor in Canada when he was elected in 2000 at the age of 21, Hartland pointed out the council elected last night is a blend of experience from the past and present.

Incumbents Irwin and Curteanu, himself and Boyd are returning, and Fendrick and Woodcock are bringing fresh perspectives.

“Not to place too many expectations, this a pretty stellar-looking council,” he said.

As the sun sets on Stockdale’s 32 consecutive years as an elected representative, and just missing another three by 46 votes, the veteran councillor has come to terms with the electorate’s decision.

“You just prepare in your mind, ‘You know, you might not win,’” he said this morning.

Stockdale said he still received 1,900 votes or 300 more than in 2012, and he was in the mix for the entire night.

“If you do not get an emotional high out of it, you are not committed,” he said.

Asked what stood out for him in three decades of public office, he said were three things.

He’s proud of how he initiated the annual awards recognizing the community’s volunteers, and of his involvement on the board that piloted the development and revitalization of Main Street.

The 2007 Canada Winter Games top the charts, he said.

“The Canada Games was just outstanding,” Stockdale said. “You could not have been prouder of the people who ran those games. It really put us on the map.”

Stockdale headed out this morning to collect his signs. Then it was off to the landfill “to close another chapter.”

As Stockdale did for so many years, candidate Micah Quinn stood among the crowd gathered at city hall, anxiously watching the board for results.

It was clear early in the evening that his first foray into public politics would not be successful.

With the writing on the wall, Woodcock offered Quinn brief words of encouragement.

“It took me two tries,” she noted.

Quinn acknowledged he’d given the run for office his best shot, but the results were nonetheless disappointing.

In an interview this morning, Quinn said he had a good sleep last night and time to reflect.

“The sun still rises,” he said.

Quinn said he feels he helped nurture a larger turnout of voters and helped to advance another perspective among the electorate.

“I think the whole thing shifted, and that was really positive for democracy,” he said.

“I feel OK with how I did.

“It was my first time out and I worked hard. I’m not ruling out running for something in the future, but at this point, it’s time to return to private life again.”

By Stephanie Waddell
and Chuck Tobin
Star Reporters