Considering the heated rhetoric surrounding the controversial Kingsway Entertainment District, it was no surprise the issue dominated the municipal election.
But it was the way the election ended — with a technical meltdown that forced a second day of voting — that sticks out in many people's minds.
After the dust settled, however, Brian Bigger emerged the winner with 14,684 votes, beating Patricia Mills (second place) by 5,000 and Dan Melanson (third) by 6,000 votes.
Mills, Melanson and the rest of the 10 people challenging Bigger focused their attacks on the mayor, accusing him of a lack of transparency, of misleading voters into believing the arena could be built without taxpayer money, among other criticisms.
Bigger said after his Oct. 23 win that it was a sign that Sudburians reject that type of politics.
“To me, what it means is that the people of Sudbury do believe that being nice is not a sign of weakness,” Bigger said. “That bullying is never OK.”
Social media comments were particularly nasty this campaign, and Bigger praised his opponents for being willing to enter what has become a very tough field.
“I'm truly grateful for anyone who is willing to to enter the election races to make our city greater,” he said. “Patricia, Dan, Cody (Caciotti), you know, they all ran strong campaigns. But you know, I'm very happy with the result.”
Aside from the election result, however, were the catastrophic technical issues that delayed the election a day. City council voted in late 2017 to have an online-only election, eliminating traditional paper ballots on election day.
In a 7-6 decision (with Bigger voting on the winning side), council rejected a combination online/paper ballot election, in part because of added costs (about $550,000) and the fact finding a qualified service provider was proving difficult.
But on election night Oct. 22, Greater Sudbury was one of dozens of cities affected by problems with Dominion Voting, who was handling the online ballots for several communities. It emerged later that Dominion's own Internet provider limited traffic on Election Day, slowing the system to a crawl when thousands and thousands of votes were being cast at the same time.
But that same night, Bigger released an angry statement, saying he was “disgusted” by what happened, directing his anger at city staff and vowing an investigation into what happened and consequences for those responsible.
“I am extremely disappointed in how tonight’s election failed the voters of Greater Sudbury,” Bigger's statement read. “As a candidate and the leader of this city, I am demanding an explanation by City of Greater Sudbury senior staff who put this process in place and why there was no back up plan in place.
“Sudbury voters were let down tonight. I am demanding a thorough investigation, analysis of what went wrong and those responsible will be held accountable.”
Since his election victory, Bigger has said the next vote will have a paper ballot option – regardless of whether it is more costly.
