This November's civic election could be yet another case of voters simply tweaking Delta council around the edges, but it also has the possibility of ushering in wholesale changes at municipal hall.
Which way it goes is obviously up to voters, but the decision Mayor Lois Jackson makes in the next few months about her political future will also go a long way in determining the outcome. It could result in status quo or this election could have the makings of what transpired back in 1999.
IDEA ruled Delta throughout the 1990s, electing 18 of the 19 candidates it ran over the course of three elections, including one term where it held all seven council seats. Yet by the fall of '99, due more to happenstance than voter backlash, the party was reduced to just two councillors and was on its way to falling off the political map completely.
All it took was for Beth Johnson and Wendy Jeske to retire from civic politics, Bruce McDonald to unsuccessfully chase the mayor's chair and Vicki Huntington to seek new affiliation to leave just council veterans Krista Engelland and the late George Hawksworth flying the IDEA flag.
Fast-forward 15 years and you could see the same kind of situation unfold this fall. Should Jackson call it a career after more than four decades at municipal hall, it wouldn't be a stretch to see 15-year council veteran Robert Campbell also retire. And with Scott Hamilton already in Victoria as the Liberal MLA for Delta North, it would leave Ian Paton as the lone remaining member of the DIVA slate.
Should, however, Jackson decide she wants another term - and this one would be for four years so it might give her reason to pause - it would be a real stretch not to see her re-elected for a sixth term. There doesn't appear to be a big-name challenger waiting in the wings, so the incumbent could well have an easy time of it come November.
And if all the other council members, save for Hamilton, decide they're going to run again, history shows us there's a good chance they'll all be re-elected too. Once elected, it takes some doing not to get voted back in as the job security enjoyed by civic politicians is something NHL coaches can only dream about.
If replacing Hamilton with a familiar face like former council poll topper Heather King or former school board chair Kelly Guichon is all that transpires, November's election will be a real yawner. But if the mayor decides now's the time to hang 'em up, things will really get interesting.
