It came in the middle of a scorching day in early August after a month of everyone waiting for summer weather to finally arrive, but it didn't stop a crowd from filling the Masonic Community Centre to hear Mount Pearl Mayor Randy Simms announce he is seeking a seat in provincial politics.
Simms' confirmation that he is running in Mount Pearl North against PC incumbent and Deputy Premier Steve Kent didn't come as a surprise, but the timing did: Most political watchers in the city expected Simms to make the final decision on whether he would run at the end of the summer.
"I had an awful lot of people asking me about it and there was a lot of pressure to do something or to say something and I didn't want people to believe that I had changed my mind or anything of that nature," Simms said.
The announcement drew as much media attendance as normally accorded to a federal candidate or a provincial party leader. Simms said he was surprised by the attention. He puts it down to the fact he is running against a Deputy Premier and cabinet minister. "Everyone says this is going to be the one to watch," he admitted.
Simms used the occasion to highlight some of the challenges facing the province in the coming years and said people are looking for a change in the way the province is managed.
"There is a certain sense in the air that change is upon us and that change is needed," Simms repeated during an interview this week.
The time is also right for him personally to take a serious look at running provincially, he added. "I've always wanted to do this," said Simms, who sought provincial office on two other occasions in his younger years. Since then, he has built a higher profile, not only as a councillor and now mayor of Mount Pearl, but also as one of the province's best known media personalities and for a while as a manager of a non-profit organization. He has also served as the president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Municipalities.
Simms is one of the few politicians who have acknowledged that the province is facing serious economic and demographic challenges. But he said there is always a sense of trepidation on the part of the incoming party when administrations change.
Simms said he supports some of the initiatives announced by Liberal leader Dwight Ball and the party, including the promise to build a new Waterford Hospital for mental health care and to not implement the additional two cent cent levy on the province's sales tax, which PC Leader and Premier Paul Davis has pledged to bring into effect starting January 1, 2016.
Simms has appointed retired City Clerk and City Manager Gerard Lewis as his campaign manager, while the former general manager of VOCM, John Murphy, has agreed to serve as manager of communications. Simms and Lewis became acquainted in 1989 when Simms was first elected to council just months after Lewis began working for the City. Murphy was Simms' boss when served as host of VOCM Open Line. "It's good to have people participating whom the community knows," said Simms, who is tickled by the irony of having one key person who in a sense worked for him for years on council and another for whom he worked for for years. "I think that's very positive stuff," Simms said.
Posted on September 3, 2015 by Craig Westcott and filed under Sept-2015.