In the biggest surprise as votes were counted Saturday, Frank Leonard, mayor of Saanich since 1996, was defeated by Richard Atwell, who has been a prominent opponent of the proposed regional sewage-treatment system.
In a race that had been predicted to be close, Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin, who won his second term in 2011 by a wide margin, lost to incumbent Lisa Helps by 89 votes.
Saanich and Victoria councils were not substantially changed. It appears Leonard and Fortin were the lightning rods that drew the discontent arising from several controversial issues.
Leonard had occupied the position for 18 years. He became the face and voice of Saanich, but high visibility also brings the likelihood of becoming the target of voters鈥� wrath. Many council candidates said people weren鈥檛 being heard, and that leadership was out of touch.
Residents were also angry about the stalemate over a feedlot at Gordon Head, within sight and smell of Mount Douglas, as well as as unpleasant odours emanating from a composting operation along Interurban Road.
For Fortin, it was probably a bridge too far. His stubborn insistence that the price of the new Johnson Street Bridge is set in stone, when circumstances point to the contrary, made it seem he was not connected to reality.
There has been growing resentment against the Capital Regional District, and Leonard and Fortin were probably further hurt by unhappiness over regional issues.
On the other hand, anti-CRD sentiment didn鈥檛 hurt Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins, who led her council鈥檚 objections to using McLoughlin Point for the sewage treatment plant and a Viewfield Road property for a sludge-processing facility. She coasted to an easy victory.
Another sign of the desire for change is the victory of Central Saanich council candidate Niall Paltiel. Though only 21 years old, he topped the polls. At a time when it鈥檚 a struggle to get younger voters involved, he will be a welcome new face in municipal government.
The new faces are going to find the same old problems. The federal and provincial governments have decreed that sewage treatment must happen, and have set deadlines. Hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from senior governments is at stake. Workable solutions to the problem of composting kitchen scraps are still elusive.
Difficult and controversial issues remain. They require co-operation, consultation and an ability to work across regional boundaries.
Newly elected officials sometimes enjoy a honeymoon. It鈥檚 likely to be a short one this time around.
