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WATCH: Veer rides groundswell of support to her second term as Red Deer’s Mayor

“It’s an incredible honour,” she says
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Tara Veer voted with her niece earlier in the day. Photo courtesy of Tara Veer Twitter

It was a landslide victory for Red Deer’s re-elected Mayor Tara Veer.

Riding on a groundswell of support, she was returned to the mayor’s office for another four years, scooping more than 88 per cent of the popular vote, compared to only just over 11 per cent for her challenger, Sean Burke.

“It’s an incredible honour… this isn’t just an election — I feel I’ve been given a strong mandate from Red Deerians,” said Veer, who ran on a platform of creating a safer city with a stronger economy, and “building community life.”

“The people of Red Deer have been so good to me for so many years, it’s my life’s mandate to give back to the people of Red Deer,” added Veer, who looks forward to meeting with the new city council over the next 100 days and planning the strategic direction and work plan for the new term.

She vowed to bring the various issues she’s heard from the electorate — from concerns expressed at forums about crime and drugs to development hurdles — to the council table.

Although Veer feels she had “great grassroots support” going into the election, as well as a dedicated group of supporters and volunteers, she stressed she would never take the electorate for granted, so she ran a strong campaign.

It paid off, as in the final vote count, Veer — with one term as mayor under her belt, and 13 years of city council experience — bested Burke with 16, 581 votes, compared to his 2,172. The results are unofficial.

The self-made small businessman had admitted he had never voted before, but felt inspired to step into the mayoral election ring to help rid his city of crime and social problems, including drug abuse and homelessness.

Burke also revealed at the outset of his campaign that he had overcome a drug problem himself – after a five-month troubled span some 17 years ago. But Burke believes some of the electorate couldn’t get over this – as was exemplified by a few abusive messages he received. “People called me crackhead and a Rob Ford …”

While he feels a segment of the population could use more compassion towards those with addictions, mental health problems or who are homeless, Burke largely felt the election was a positive learning experience.

“I largely enjoyed myself and (felt) it was great to deal with friendly, polite people,” Burke said.

If he ever decided to run for office again, Burke admitted he would do more research.

While Veer expressed some concern about the slightly lower election turnout than in 2013, she feels she and the rest of council have accomplished a lot in the past four years. “I am confident the best is yet to come for the community of Red Deer.”



lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com

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