Outgoing Quispamsis Councillors Reflect On Their Terms

Three outgoing Quispamsis councillors had the chance to say their final goodbyes this week.

Sean Luck, Pierre Rioux and Lisa Loughery spoke during the current council’s final meeting Tuesday.

The three councillors, who have spent between five and 20 years on council, decided not to run again in the municipal election.

Loughery said it has been a tremendous honour to have served Quispamsis residents for 20 years.

“I’ve seen many changes throughout the town. Many new streets, many new and exciting things that have happened over the years and so glad that I was able to be a part of that,” said Loughery.

The five-term councillor, who is a life-long resident of the former Gondola Point and Quispamsis areas, said she always felt it was important to be involved in the community.

Loughery said serving on town council has been like a second home for her and she has enjoyed every minute of it.

“It’ll be sad not coming here on Tuesday nights any longer,” she said. “It’ll probably be very weird in the beginning. I’ll probably want to grab my coat and come, but I think it’ll be nice to have some new council members come in,” she said.

Luck, who was first elected in 2016, entered municipal politics after selling his pharmacies to bring his business knowledge and experience to council, he said.

He reflected on several achievements over the past number of years while acknowledging that being a councillor is not always easy.

“At times, I did feel I was on an island by myself. However, change is hard. It takes perseverance, effort and time,” said Luck.

Luck said he feels one of the major accomplishments was the completion of the town’s first internal audit in 25 years.

“The audit was informative and can now be used to compare ourselves with towns of similar size with the use of performance metrics,” he said.

“I hope that future councils will continue with additional internal performance and financial audits to always make sure that residents of Quispamsis are having their tax dollars spent wisely and efficiently.”

Luck said he is happy with his decision and will now focus on building his dream home in the town.

Rioux, meanwhile, said he has enjoyed representing the town and its residents for the past 17 years.

He said running for council was something he thought about for many years and was excited to be part of the team.

“When I was a young man, one of the lessons my father taught me was the most important thing in life is empathy, and if you have a skill or ability, he said make use of it. One of the skills and ability I always had, I think, was speaking for other people,” said Rioux.

Rioux said the town has grown exponentially over the past two decades and been recognized nationally, and he is glad to have been part of it.

The retired educator said this is not the final chapter in his life and he looks forward to whatever comes next.

Rioux closed his remarks by referencing a line delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. during his historic “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I can finally say: free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty I’m free at last,” said Rioux.

Three of the remaining four councillors — Kirk Miller, Emil Olsen and Beth Thompson — reoffered for council while Libby O’Hara is looking to take the mayor’s seat from Gary Clark.

There are also eight other people looking for one of the town’s seven council seats: Mike Biggar, Brian Blaikie, Jeffrey Cawley, Noah Donovan, Patrick Hemp, Kerrie Luck and Mary Schryer.

The results of the municipal election will be revealed next Tuesday night.

You can watch the remarks given by the outgoing councillors below.