Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion
Ken Francis, who is running for the Saskatchewan Party in the upcoming Kindersley byelection, has resigned from town council to focus on his election campaign.
The Town of Kindersley’s former deputy mayor was in attendance for the council meeting on Jan. 29 but he submitted his formal resignation at the end of the meeting. Francis was first elected to council in a general election in October 2016. Tentative dates are set for a council byelection.
Francis was one of six candidates vying for the Saskatchewan Party nomination for Kindersley. He won the nomination to be the party’s candidate for the provincial byelection at a meeting on Jan. 8.
The byelection for the provincial seat is set for March 1.
Deputy Mayor Ken Francis
Francis, who discussed his decision with Mayor Rod Perkins, said he had two main reasons for stepping down from council when he did. There is a small 28-day window for the election campaign and with plans to visit communities across the constituency, his campaign will consume most of his time, he said.
As a matter of fairness to the mayor and council, Francis said he believed it would be best for him to resign his position. He said he could have taken a leave because it’s an option but he wanted to be proactive by resigning when it made sense.
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He noted that the spring session of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan starts soon after the byelection, so he wants to be able to focus on his new role if he is elected to be the new MLA for Kindersley.
Francis said if he wins the byelection, he wanted to avoid spending time on his resignation because he would need to prepare for the spring session. He encouraged citizens to consider running for council, and he hopes the spot is filled soon. He said he enjoyed his stint on council.
“I’m hopeful they will find a replacement for me in fairly short order,” he said.
He said he enjoyed working with council members. “I will say that I am going to miss that. I have thoroughly enjoyed it and to be honest, it hasn’t been easy.”
He noted that a person needs to be able to handle criticism to sit on council because not everyone is pleased with decisions, and tough decisions must be made. Even as he has been out knocking on doors, he said people have told him they are pleased with the work of council and it has given him a sense of satisfaction.
Francis said he is a businessman and the Town of Kindersley is a big business. He said it takes a team approach to operate a municipality and he was proud of working as a team with the council, administration and community members.
The former deputy mayor said his role on council helped to spur on his decision to run at the provincial level. He added that he is results-oriented, and he is proud of accomplishments the council has made since 2016.
Perkins said he spoke with Francis about his decision and it did not come as a surprise to him. He noted that the option to take a leave was discussed, but Francis was not interested in the option. The resignation allows council to move forward in solidarity, he said.
A resolution is anticipated to be passed at the council meeting on Feb. 12 to set the dates for a municipal byelection to elect a new councillor, Perkins said. The town is required to have a byelection because it is not an election year.
The mayor said there are tentative dates in place. The call for nominations is anticipated to go out on Feb. 23 and nomination papers will be accepted until March 7. The byelection is tentatively set for April 11.
Perkins said even as current council members were being sworn in after the 2016 election, he wanted Francis to serve as deputy mayor. He noted that he asked Francis if he would take on the role and council supported the appointment. The former deputy mayor served the residents well, he said.
“He’s very well thought out in all the decisions he makes,” the mayor said, adding that Francis will be missed at the table. “He is positive, but he’s also decisive. He’s not going to beat around the bush. I thought he did a very good job.”
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