Campobello says ‘yes’ to incorporation - May. 11, 2010
BY BARB RAYNER
barbrayn@nbnet.nb.ca
CAMPOBELLO – Turnout was impressive, as Islanders voted in favour of becoming a rural community Monday.
The final unofficial results show 275 voted in favour of the move, with 167 against. There were 614 eligible voters on the island and 442 of them cast ballots giving a 71.99 per cent voter turnout.
Now the next step in the process will be the election of a mayor and four councillors in October.
Mary Fowler, who chairs the island’s local service district, said Monday night the plebiscite result was a positive step for Campobello and she was pleased that all their hard work was going to turn into something good.
“The voter turnout was huge. I am very pleased. I think it is going to work. I have no intention of running at all. I just wanted to bring it this far. It has been a long, hard haul.
“I am glad it is over and I am glad it is ‘yes’ and I am glad that we decided to take our lives into our own hands. The next step will be the October elections.
“There will be lots of work between now and then for the working committee to make sure we get out there and make sure people want to run.”
Fowler has not heard anyone say they plan to run but she said she feels once islanders realize it is going to be their responsibility to step up and govern themselves, people will come forward.
“I am hopeful we will have some good candidates step forward. The really nice thing about being where we are with the provincial election schedule is that our first mayor and councillors will only have a two-year term.
Whoever is doing it is going to be brand new but if they really hate it they can be done in two years.”
Stephen Smart, who chairs the island’s governance committee, said he was pleased with the results and it was a pretty clear mandate for the island to move ahead.
“I am a bit surprised because the negative camp was fairly vocal. Hopefully, everything I said will come true and it will make this a better place to live. The committee is done and it is up to the whole island to get involved again and choose their mayor and councillors in October.”
The plebiscite was talked about a lot, said Smart, and to have such a large portion of the residents turn out to vote showed the citizens of Campobello were involved and paying attention.
“I would like to thank all the voters. I was very happy everyone got involved whether they voted yes or no. It was pretty decisive and didn’t come down to one or two votes. They proved they are concerned about the future of the island.”
As for running for council in October, Smart said it is too early yet to say but there are some people who think he should and he has permission from his family.
“Whoever gets the positions will probably be scrutinized fairly hard because we made some promises,” he said.
“Right now we can enjoy the fact that people on the island have faith in their community.
“We don’t have an agenda other than improvements. Now we have to move ahead and hope all the good people come out of the woods and take some control here because that is what it was all about.
“I am very happy. I know different people on the committee were very pleased and very relieved. It has been attempted a few times in the past but to no avail.”
He feels a lot of the opposition was due to misunderstanding. Under the rural community model, said Smart, there are only two things they have to be responsible for – emergency measures and planning – and that will be reflected in their taxes.
“There is room to add more if people on the island feel they can do more or feel things need doing better but it is not mandatory,” he said.
“There is a lot of work to do but hopefully within 12 months we will have some improvements that we can be proud of.”
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