Leroy Bartlett could not refuse an invitation from the mayor who is now the mayor-elect. On Monday night, he joined Marie Trainer at her victory party.
He said he was ready to bring common sense to the council table that Trainer would head up as mayor. The newcomer to municipal politics is ready for his four-year term and said he was easy to get along with. His intention is to represent Ward 1 well.
On Nov. 13, Bartlett squeezed in front of challenger Bob Esselment by 34 votes and ousted incumbent Tom Patterson in the ward including Walpole, Jarvis and Selkirk. The councillor-elect said he felt really good about the win.
"I'm glad I ran," he said with exuberance.
As he expected, Bartlett won convincingly in Selkirk which is close to his Cheapside 300-acre cash-crop farm. He also manages a 2,100-head-finishing hog barn, which is not an Elite Swine operation. Because he will take on council duties, he will quit his grain trucking job.
Bartlett attributed his win to the people's desire for change. Prior to filing his nomination papers, he said many people encouraged him to run for the ward seat.
His family has lived in the area since 1842 and he is well-known throughout the community for his thousands of hours in community service work, he said.
When asked what he did to prepare himself for councillor duties, Bartlett said he will undertake research. "I'm going to have to do a lot of quick study.
"I'm not going to go to the table knowing nothing. I'm going to be caught up," he said.