The Town of Elk Point took to the polls to fill an empty seat in council on Tuesday. Tim Smereka was announced as the unofficial winner of the byelection later on in the evening. Smereka will replace Sherry Bower-Gagne, who resigned her seat in mid-March.
Smereka says now that he’s got the nod from the people of Elk Point, he’s ready to make them proud.
“It’s definitely a humbling experience when you get a chance to do something like this with people who voted you in, putting their backing behind you. I’m really hoping I can live up to everybody’s expectations of myself.”
The unofficial results had Smereka taking 102 votes of the 297 cast in total. Jason Boorse was the closest candidate to him, at 68 votes. Including Smereka, there were five candidates for the vacant seat to choose from.
Smereka is ready for the days ahead and says he wants to make Elk Point a better community through his time on council.
“I’ve worked in the community. Growing up and living here my entire life, I look at it and say ‘well, where are we going?’ as far as the community is going. I want to see growth.”
He says making the community one that can be passed on to his children is a goal. Smereka is scheduled to be sworn in June 25th at the council meeting barring any election changes. He says he’s ready to “hit the ground running” with the rest of council.