REGINA - Council has adjourned for the last time in the 2020-24 term in Regina.
The gavel came down Wednesday evening following a motion to adjourn, wrapping up a nine-hour-long final council meeting and bringing an end to the tenures of several on council who will not be seeking re-election.
It was the final meeting for Cheryl Stadnichuk (Ward 1), Andrew Stevens (Ward 3), John Findura (Ward 5), Dan LeBlanc (Ward 6) and Landon Mohl (Ward 10). For Findura, it ends a 15 year stint on council going back to 2009.
With Ward 4 councillor Lori Bresciani also leaving to take on incumbent Sandra Masters on the ballot for Mayor, it means six of the 10 wards will have different councillors representing them next term - a turnover of over half the council. The only other current council members running to try and keep their seats are Bob Hawkins in Ward Two, Terina Nelson in Ward Seven, Shanon Zachidniak in Ward Eight and Jason Mancinelli in Ward Nine.
The final meeting also coincided with the nominations deadline of 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Mancinelli literally waited until the last minute to file his papers on the final day to run again; he later told reporters it had been a decision that took considerable thought on his part.
“It was a very deep decision. This was a very hard term to go through,” Mancinelli said.
“I want to make sure that I believe that I was stepping up for reasons that people would appreciate… I believe there’s work left to do and I hope that people trust me to go forward and continue that work."
Mayor Masters had this for those looking to seek election to council for the first time:
“This is no easy feat, I will say that. But if you are running for council, whether as mayor or as a councillor, you will walk into this and have a very steep learning curve. And your job is to make the best decisions for the city of Regina with the information that you have before you. And I hear lots of things about what folks are saying. And we have a lot of amazing people inside this building who are working to make the city of Regina a better place. And you have to kind of show up and be open-minded because what you think you know may not be what you know when it all is said and done.
"And so I believe that, and I do applaud anyone who puts their names forward for this type of job, because it's not easy standing out in front of folks and making difficult decisions.”
As for her thoughts on how the term went Masters said: "I know that we have dealt with more pieces of policy and legislation and problems, perhaps, than any previous council before us, and it has not always been pretty, but we got a lot of stuff done. And so, you know, giving some folks some hugs, lots of them, shaking lots of hands, because at the end of the day, I think this council can walk away knowing that it accomplished things."
As for the meeting itself, one of the most prominent items included approval at a total project cost of $245.1 million for the new Indoor Aquatics Facility, up $84 million over the previous estimates. That passed by a 9-2 vote with Mohl and Bresciani both against.
But other items on the agenda did not make it on. A contentious issue of ice time for senior hockey at the Brandt Centre was among those that was not heard before the gavel came down, sending home several potential delegations who were hoping to speak.
Those items not heard prior to the gavel coming down are now automatically tabled to the next council meeting on December 11, almost a month after the municipal election on Nov. 13.
