By Mark Squibb/October 7, 2021
For the first time in over three decades, Harold Mullowney will not have a seat at the Bay Bulls council table.
Mullowney earned 243 votes for himself. It was 21 votes less than he needed to land a seat.
He isn’t terribly disappointed by the outcome.
“It was a bit of a relief,” said Mullowney. “I’ve been there 31 years, and pumping in 25, sometimes 30 hours a week into council and other activities I’m involved with. So, I have a chance now to step back and rest and relax a bit and let someone else take the reins and see how they can do for a while.”
He looks back at his time on council with fondness.
“I’ve had 31 good years there,” said Mullowney. “I’ve been mayor and deputy mayor for most of it. I’ve seen a lot of things change in Bay Bulls over those years and in the region, and I’m proud of many of the accomplishments we’ve made, especially in the last four years. We had a good council, we worked very well together, and put in place a number of initiatives that helped the community a great deal. We did a lot of road work and a lot of other activities. It’s unfortunate that most people did not recognize how involved the council was, and how much had been accomplished. But I’m proud of what we’ve done collectively. We have a great staff and had a great council, and I just hope that those who are taking over have the time, and the energy, and the commitment to continue some of the initiatives that we’ve started.”
Residents voted out all five incumbent members of council who ran for re-election.
“Sometimes people just want change for change, and sometimes change is good,” said Mullowney. “Only time will tell.”
Interestingly, the exact same scenario played out in Witless Bay, with residents voting in an entirely new slate of candidates.
Had Mullowney been running in Witless Bay — or pretty well any other council across the province — he would have actually been re-elected. Bay Bulls confirmed the week before the vote that only five candidates would be elected, rather than the typical seven.
For a number of years, council had tried fruitlessly to fill an empty council seat. Calls for candidates went unheeded. The resignation of Evelyn Tucker some time back left a council already struggling to meet quorum with a second vacancy.
The town applied for special permission from the provincial government to operate with a complement of five councillors. That permission was granted.
“It was getting tiresome to constantly go back to the minister to get permission to vote on things,” said Mullowney. “So, we had it reduced to five so that our quorum changed, and we could run the town more effectively. That being said, there will always be an issue around getting quorum in small towns.”
Even with the election approaching, Mullowney said council thought it best to keep things as they were. He said after discussions with council it was more or less taken for granted that council would stick with a complement of five.
“Seven was a good number to work with, but to go back to the minster and ask to go back to seven, when we had such difficulty getting anyone to step forward, and the minister’s first question I’m sure would have been, ‘Well, what’s the rationale for this?’ And before the election we had no concept of who was going to run, so we had no rationale for it,” Mullowney said.
Ten people ended up putting their names forward, including the five former members.
Mullowney said his fear was that had council opted to elect seven then they would soon be back to the minister to request another reduction to five.
“That being said, I will not be surprised if you see the complement reduced to five in much of the province as we move forward, because many towns are having that very same issue,” said Mullowney.
Former councilor Eric Maloney would also have made it to council, had a full complement been elected.
Mullowney thanked those in the community who have supported him over the years.
“I will still be very active in my role with the East Coast Trail,” said Mullowney. “And I might actually get a chance now to get out and walk some of that beautiful trail. We have a gem here on the east coast of Newfoundland.”
He hopes the new council will carry out the initiatives laid out in the town’s strategic plan, and noted upgrades to the Regional Lifestyle Centre and recreation fields have already been approved. He would like to see council continue to work on the hiking trail near Long Pond.
“Much of the planning has been done, and some of this work is ‘shovel-ready,’ so you can start it immediately,” said Mulloweny.
He added that he would like to see the next phase of Irish Town Road, along with other roads in the community, completed as well.
