Tanker is exactly where he wants to be
Miramichi Michael (Tanker) Malley returns to politics as a city councillor
MIRAMICHI - At 3 p.m. he was behind the wheel of a District 16 bus doing his part to shuttle more than 400 area kid's home from a Monday at school.
At 6 p.m. he was out thanking each and every voter at the local polling station for turning out.
By 10 p.m., he was hanging out in his brother's garage with friends and family, celebrating as one of the city's newest councillors.
Michael (Tanker) Malley's wild ride of a political career has landed him right back where he started - as a Miramichi councillor - and it's exactly where he wants to be.
"I'm overwhelmed for sure," he said. "It gives reassurance to all the people who did ask me to put my name forward to be considered. I'm a person who has always fought for what he believes in, and I'll never change that."
Malley, 45, a current bus driver, a former councillor and deputy mayor of Miramichi, and most famously a member of the legislative assembly, was up against 32 candidates on the night.
Tanker learned of the victory sitting in his brother's garage, with the smell of sawdust in the air, as friends and family all huddled around one small portable radio.
He has collected more than 1,200 votes with 28 per cent of results calculated.
"I love my city," he said. "Miramichi is the greatest place to work and raise your families. We still have a lot of work to go, but I know we can work as a team."
He didn't put up signs in Miramichi this go around, instead deciding to save the money for a high school graduation present for his son Mark.
He didn't even do his usual door to door campaigning, having a bad flu for the last three weeks, saying he rather save his energy for driving the bus to school - adding he didn't miss a day.
But after work Monday, still decked out in his bus company sweater and hat, he made it to the polls, thanked everyone there, and voted.
"I hope they just don't forget my record," he said. "I have always been here. I love this city."
Tanker, most notably, represented the riding of Miramichi-Bay du Vin in the Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2006 and served as Speaker for part of 2006.
He even held the balance of power at one point as an independent, turning his back on then premier Bernard Lord and the Tories, in favour of what he thought was best for his Miramichi constituents.
The Tank was defeated in the September 2006 provincial elections by now Liberal MLA Bill Fraser.
He then went back to being a self-described "ordinary Joe" but at the same time vowed to come back to public life.
Malley said he ran on two mottoes this time around, "Yes, we can!" and "Get 'er done!"
It was all part of his way of saying if Miramichi wanted change, he was going to bring it.
Job creation and answering the problems of the people one by one are his focus.
Improved post-secondary education with the introduction of a polytechnic school is another goal of Malley's for the upcoming term, as well as bringing long-term foreign investment to the area.
"I think I show that working people can go into public office and as a working person, we can do it," he said. "We come with a good common sense approach."
"We can continue to move this city forward."
Gerry Cormier has been elected as the next Mayor of Miramichi.
With 25 per cent of the vote calculated, Cormier was up by over 800 votes to second place candidate Reg Falconer.
"I think people were looking for a change, and the results (Monday) show that people are talking change and they came out to vote for it," Cormier said at his election party. "Personally, I worked hard for it, I feel good, and when you do your homework, it eventually pays off."
Four year's ago, it was Cormier on the losing end of the Miramichi municipal elections, defeated by the now outgoing mayor John McKay.
He also lost a June 2005 municipal by-election for a councilor position by just 136 votes to René Smith.
Cormier, 58, currently works for the province of New Brunswick as an employment counsellor. He was a previous member of city council for nine years.
Miramichi Ward 1 Councilor Reginald Falconer had 10 years of council experience entering the race, and was the only one of the four mayoral candidates to sit on the outgoing council in any capacity.
It didn't help him.
Voters appeared to want change from a previous municipal council that was synonymous was argument and aggravation.
Exiting mayor McKay described it as "dysfunctional."
Problems with the outgoing council came to a head last Tuesday when McKay walked out of city council chambers before voting on a motion to authorize a controversial buyout package for Lord Beaverbrook Arena manager Peter Nevin. The meeting then lost quorum, postponing the decision for the new council. Several councillors opposed to the buyout didn't show for the meeting, including Falconer.
"I didn't support it," Falconer said, adding he was the only one of the four candidates to address the issue during the race. "I think (McKay) did the right thing, made it very clear he wasn't in support of that and he wasn't there to support it."
McKay did not run for re-election, his reasoning centered on the buyout issue.
Most of the debate leading up to election night centered on electing a council that would work together. That notion spurred votes for fresh faces.
"The first think I will have to do is meet the manager, solicitors and council and take it from there," Cormier said, declining to say where he stands on the issue currently. "I have to look at everything. But we have to work together on it."
More Actualités
Search Articles
More CE Network Sites & Partners:
