If you call Outlook home or just make the town a regular part of your week, the odds are fairly good that you鈥檝e at least heard of one Maureen Weiterman.
The long-time dedicated volunteer and outspoken advocate of everything Outlook has now added a new role to her life 鈥� Mayor.
Weiterman was selected to be the newest mayor in the municipal election held on Monday, November 9 in what turned out to be a landslide victory, defeating the incumbent B. Ross Derdall, who served as Mayor since his win in the 2016 election.
Maureen says any excitement on Election Night had to wait until the morning because she actually managed to doze off, feeling tired due to moving snow that had arrived in last week鈥檚 infamous snowstorm in the province.
鈥淔irst off, I slept because I couldn鈥檛 stay awake!鈥� Weiterman admitted, speaking with The Outlook.聽 鈥淲e stayed up until midnight, and by then you think, 鈥極h gosh, maybe I didn鈥檛 get in鈥� or whatever, and Rachel had said she鈥檇 phone me but by midnight, I couldn鈥檛 do it anymore.聽 I had my phone right by the bed, and apparently it DID ring, but I slept through it.聽 Rachel had left a message at 1:57 am.聽 Lots of counting to do, for sure.鈥�
Still, the mayor-elect was taken aback when she got the news of her win.
鈥淚 was excited and then there was a feeling of, 鈥榃hat have I done?鈥�,鈥� said Maureen.聽 鈥淚 looked at the votes and it was very humbling to think that that many people stood in line to put an 鈥榅鈥� beside my name.聽 The ratepayers have spoken.鈥�
Weiterman was lifted by the talks she had with people in the weeks leading up to the election, including ratepayers who weren鈥檛 shy about sharing their views on the issues permeating in the Town of Outlook, as well as those who pledged their support to her.聽 Maureen believes the strong voting results indicate that people want their elected officials to move in a different direction.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a strong desire for change from what we鈥檝e had in the last four years,鈥� she said.聽 鈥淚 mean, had there been two other people running, would I have won by 703 votes?聽 I don鈥檛 think so.聽 I was the only one standing there, so I guess I had to be that change, you know?聽 I had people text me and say things like, 鈥業 was just thinking we need a new mayor and you鈥檙e the first person I thought of.鈥櫬� I鈥檝e had support from all over the place; people who live in town and people who don鈥檛 live in this town.聽 I was in a grocery store and talking to a lady who said, 鈥極h, you鈥檙e running for Mayor!鈥� and so I pulled my mask down to show her it was me.聽 I asked who she was, and she said, 鈥極h, I don鈥檛 live in Outlook, but I saw your article in the paper and I hope you win!鈥櫬� That just makes you go, 鈥榃hoa鈥�.鈥�
When we take a second to move outside the local bubble and look at the political landscape elsewhere, more women are being voted into high-ranking positions at a time in our society where we鈥檙e doing our best to make the once-impossible seem possible.聽 The biggest example of this is the fact that the United States of America will have a Black woman serve as its vice-president for the first time ever.聽 Back in the Land of Living Skies, the City of Regina elected its first-ever female mayor in Sandra Masters last week.
Evidently, this same courtesy of making municipal history has been extended to Outlook as Maureen is the town鈥檚 first female mayor to be elected in the 112-year history of the riverside community.
Her election comes just weeks after this newspaper printed an edition of its 鈥楽tored Stories鈥� feature that touched on a then-upcoming visit to Outlook in October of 1920 from Nellie McClung, the noted author and social activist who championed for women鈥檚 rights across Western Canada, including the right to vote and run for public office.
Weiterman is grateful for the opportunity to serve as Outlook鈥檚 first female mayor, but she says it isn鈥檛 something that will take center stage as far as her time in office.聽 When this reporter brought up McClung鈥檚 appearance in Outlook a century ago, Weiterman couldn鈥檛 help but smile and share an interesting coincidence.
鈥淭his is kind of interesting because Equinox Theatre did 鈥楽askatoon Pie鈥� quite a few years ago, and I played Nellie McClung in that play!鈥� she shared.聽 鈥淚 have a sash that says 鈥楾he Vote鈥� across it for my costume, and Tekla (her daughter) also played Nellie when she was in Grade 1!聽 The fact that Nellie actually came to Outlook was exciting to read.聽 As far as being Outlook鈥檚 first female mayor, I just think it鈥檚 high time to be a woman in that role.聽 But that being said, I鈥檓 not going to hang my hat on that.聽 Like Kamala Harris said, you鈥檙e going to see more from women.聽 So, I may be the first, but I hope I鈥檓 not the last.鈥�
Weiterman鈥檚 predecessor Ross Derdall noted a number of times that he was only seeking one term as mayor before eventually putting his name forward again.聽 Maureen says she can鈥檛 speak to whether or not she鈥檒l be a one-term mayor right now as it鈥檚 too early to tell.聽 She鈥檚 focused on making her and her new council 鈥� Sharon Bruce, Kevin Grotheim, Kyle McLeod, Bob Stephenson, Justin Turton, and Ryan Husband 鈥� a cohesive unit where things are accomplished as a collaborative effort between everyone in the room.
The mayor-elect鈥檚 thoughts on the work done by the previous mayor and council are perhaps something of a mixed bag, to say the least.聽 Weiterman had previously served on council after being elected in 2016 but decided to exit a year later, feeling uncomfortable with where things were headed at the time.聽 She echoes much of the same sentiments that have been shared by Outlook residents, and now that she鈥檒l assume the role of Mayor, she hopes that she and the rest of council will be able to steer things in a different direction.
鈥淯nfortunately, I had left council because I felt that they were not going in a direction that I felt comfortable with,鈥� said Maureen.聽 鈥淭he fact that there was so much in-camera stuff, I don鈥檛 know what the heck they did do!聽 I know Ross had talked about finishing Mann Street, water treatment, and the fire hall, and I know they were doing things, but there were things that weren鈥檛 stellar.聽 When they attacked the paper, that was not our finest moment.聽 I鈥檓 just sorry that Ross had started this new fire hall project so late in his term.聽 Had there been more public consultation and gone about it differently, we would be well on our way to having a new fire hall, but people didn鈥檛 like the way it was handled.聽 The same goes for the recycling program and how that was handled.聽 It鈥檚 working great for me and I like having those bins out there now, but it makes me sad that we lost three jobs, that I as a ratepayer had no input into it, and it just got rolled out.聽 That鈥檚 not how I would do it.聽 But all of this is in the past and it鈥檚 time to move forward.鈥�
Weiterman鈥檚 biggest measure that she wants to tackle at the moment is being more open with ratepayers and making herself and council available to them.聽 She has a plan (to be confirmed) to set up shop in the town offices building 鈥� most likely the art gallery 鈥� in which she鈥檒l be available to anyone and everyone from 9:00 am to noon on Tuesdays.聽 Have a question, a suggestion, or a complaint?聽 In the event that you can鈥檛 catch her out and about in town, the mayor has a weekly open house for three hours.聽 Measures such as this or the ones Maureen intends to introduce with council go far with residents.
鈥淢y first point was transparency, so I think we need to have a more open and transparent council,鈥� she said.聽 鈥淚n saying that, I鈥檓 going to try and reduce the number of in-camera meetings.聽 We need to look at the Act because they even warn you that more in-camera sessions can lead your ratepayers to become more suspicious and wonder if you鈥檙e hiding something.聽 There are ways for us to do our business in the public.聽 I want to be available to the ratepayers, and that wasn鈥檛 always what happened with the previous mayor and council.聽 I know that they said that if anyone had questions, they were not to talk to councillors and they were to submit them, and a file would be opened and eventually those questions would be answered.聽 Well, no, we鈥檙e not doing that.聽 I鈥檓 going to be handing every one of my councillors a little notebook at our first meeting and I鈥檓 going to tell them that they need to talk to everybody that they see who wants to talk to them.聽 They鈥檒l write down their name, number and their issues and questions, and we鈥檒l talk about them!聽 Sometimes it鈥檚 those little things that go far, right?聽 Maybe we鈥檒l have things to talk about and maybe we鈥檒l have nothing to report, but we can鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going on with the ratepayers or how they feel if we don鈥檛 talk to them.鈥�
As far as what Weiterman wants to tackle right now upon taking office, she wants to provide opportunity to those on council who seek it.
鈥淩ight now, we need to know where we are,鈥� she said.聽 鈥淚 think this council is well-educated, smart, and full of enthusiasm.聽 The first thing we鈥檙e going to look at is the Deputy Mayor position.聽 It will not be appointed by me because I want everyone to have a chance to be Deputy Mayor.聽 If there are six councillors and it鈥檚 a four-year term, everyone can be Deputy Mayor for eight months if they want to do it.聽 I think everyone should be given an opportunity to see what goes on in that role.聽 We鈥檙e also going to talk about council reimbursement.聽 If we can get our government to run a little more smoothly, I don鈥檛 think we鈥檙e going to need a lot of special meetings or in-camera sessions.聽 So, we鈥檙e going to talk about that; how we鈥檙e going to handle ourselves in a responsible manner and a manner that鈥檚 responsible to the ratepayers.鈥�
Weiterman knows the importance of good leadership when it comes to serving as an elected official, but she says that it also takes the work of residents to help one鈥檚 community move toward prominence.聽 In the end, whether it鈥檚 larger-scale projects or even the littlest of things, the goal is to make this town do one thing 鈥� prosper.
鈥淲e need more business here, right?聽 Especially with this Westside Irrigation Project,鈥� said Maureen. 聽鈥淢aybe a new restaurant or two, maybe a clothing store will come back.聽 Four years isn鈥檛 a long time because this project could be over 25 years, but hopefully we鈥檒l be moving towards that.聽 Hopefully, Outlook will grow because people will be coming here for jobs and maybe we鈥檒l be able to attract more big business.聽 We want to grow, and I want to make Outlook a more beautiful place.聽 I have some ideas for things like street or block ambassadors, and maybe those who鈥檝e run for council would be great in those kinds of roles.聽 Like an ambassador for Simpson Street, for example.聽 Think of it: 鈥楾his Saturday at Simpson Street back alleys, the Town will be out with their trucks and the councillors will be coming around as well.聽 You鈥檝e got stuff that needs to be taken to the dump?聽 Guess what, Simpson Street gets one free dump this week 鈥� clean it up!鈥櫬� We want to set an example, and we need to set it first so that the ratepayers will hopefully buy into it.聽 Those relationships would grow, and we鈥檇 become a more cohesive unit.鈥�
Though Weiterman does have some large-scale goals in mind over the next four years, Outlook鈥檚 newest mayor knows that nothing happens overnight. 聽However, if everyone finds a way to work together and move toward common goals to achieve, there may be no limits to the benefits that the town may be rewarded in the future.
鈥淲e have to deal with the fire hall,鈥� said Maureen.聽 鈥淭he fire so to speak has been lit, so now we need to figure out where we are on that and where we鈥檙e going to go on it.聽 I know we can have a new fire hall, but we just need to find the right fit for us 鈥� for our people, our population, and our pocketbook.聽 We also need to make sure that our water infrastructure is perfect.聽 We鈥檝e got lousy pressure on the east side of town, and we need to find out what that鈥檚 all about.聽 The Westside Irrigation Project is another big deal, but with that, we need to repair our relationships with the RMs of Rudy and Fertile Valley, and then we need to look at our town.聽 We鈥檝e got to figure out where we鈥檙e going to put some people because we鈥檙e going to have them coming in here fast and furious and we are not ready!聽 Business infrastructure too; we need offices and more accommodations.聽 We have to look at all these things, and because we鈥檙e the Irrigation Capital of Saskatchewan, we want to be able to use as much water as we can.聽 But the ratepayers need to understand that we鈥檙e not going to be HERE to HERE in two days, two weeks, two months, or not even two years: we鈥檙e working TOWARDS it and moving FORWARD.聽 We鈥檙e not looking back.鈥�
