Ken Trenholm wins Summerside's Ward 5 byelection with nearly 37% of vote

Ken Trenholm has been elected as the new councillor in Summerside's Ward 5 Hillcrest–Platte River, the seat formerly held by Barb Gallant.

Trenholm has been a strong advocate for active transportation lanes in the P.E.I. city. He was also critical of council's decision to place a homeless shelter beside a seniors' residence.

Trenholm won the byelection Monday with 232 votes, just over 36 per cent of the total. Pete Peters was second with 190 votes and former mayor Basil Stewart was third with 118.

Three other candidates also put their names forward: Patrick McMahon (43 votes), Ginny Kennedy (33 votes) and Gerard Deveau (16 votes).

Trenhom said it was "rewarding" to win after speaking with so many people while campaigning.

"I think spending time with people, you get a sense of who they are and what their concerns are and you get connected — and I think being connected to the community is the key to helping a community."

Modular building units are shown in April, ready to be converted into an emergency housing shelter in Summerside. That's now happening at 25 Frank Mellish St., which is near Prince County Hospital and Summerset Manor, a long-term care facility. (Tony Davis/CBC)

Trenholm said the location of the homeless shelter, on Frank Mellish Street near a long-term care facility, and a lack of consultation before it was approved were concerns he heard a lot. It's expected to open sometime this month.

"It certainly created a mistrust when I went to the door, and I know people have refused to even vote, they said, based on the decision the city made and the province made."

Succeeds Barb Gallant

The council seat became vacant when Gallant was removed this summer after missing three consecutive council meetings without excuse, in the wake of being charged with taking money from a veterans' organization.

Trenholm, a first-time candidate, said Gallant's plight had nothing to do to with his decision to run other than it created an open seat, one of eight on council not including the mayor, Dan Kutcher.

He said he intends to be a pro-active councillor, rather than merely reacting to things, with the understanding that "we can't always get what we what."

Ken Trenholm in a photo from 2022, when he was urging that Pope Road be a priority for a cycling lane. (Submitted by Ken Trenholm)

He added: "I'm really a grass-roots community advocate. I want to fight for the people."

Stewart's political future uncertain

Stewart, who lost the mayoral election to Kutcher in 2022, said he hadn't intended to run for council but changed his mind when people encouraged him to jump into the Ward 5 race.

He said he was disappointed with what he considered a low voter turnout.

Elections P.E.I. says 1,475 people were eligible to vote in the byelection. About 43 per cent cast their ballot.

"When you think about what's going on around the world now, we're so fortunate here to have an opportunity to have a say in our government and so many paid the price so we could have our freedom, and to have nearly 60 per cent of the people not come out to vote, you wonder why," Stewart said.

Former Summerside mayor Basil Stewart was also running in the byelection but placed third behind Pete Peters. (Tony Davis/CBC)

Stewart added that it's too soon to think about his political future.

"What we should be doing is congratulating the winner and hoping that the city of Summerside does well with the new councillor and with the whole council."

According to a Summerside bylaw, the councillor position pays slightly more than $25,000 a year, plus work expenses.

Crucial vote coming up

Trenholm is expected to be sworn in at the next Summerside council meeting, on Oct. 21.

That meeting will also see a vote on Summerside's new official plan, which contains amendments required for the city to qualify for $5.8 million in Housing Accelerator Funding from the federal government. Those amendments must be passed by the end of the month.

"He's going to be jumping into that deep end that's for sure," Mayor Dan Kutcher said of the new councillor.

The deadline won't give Trenholm much time to review internal financial documents connected to the official plan, said Kutcher.

The plan has been under review for months, and Kutcher said with the federal deadline the vote can't be delayed.