Dean McKerracher will be retiring from politics in October 2022, bringing to an end a 20-year run on the District of Elkford council, 17 of which he spent as mayor.
For McKerracher, the time spent as Mayor was enough – he is officially the longest-serving mayor in the District’s history.
“I’ll be 78 in April this year, so if I were to go four more years that’s 82. I don’t want to be here at 82 – I think it’s time,” he said.
Motivated by his family to pass the torch, McKerracher said he was proud of all that the District of Elkford had achieved in the years he was at the helm, but “it’s time to let someone else lead.”
“I fought a good fight, and I think its time I hand the flag over to somebody else and let them carry on the march.”
In the years he’s been Mayor, Elkford has changed a lot, with new energy initiatives, a new community hall, a new district administration building, bylaw updates and plenty more. McKerracher is brimming with stories about every change, with detailed knowledge of the backstory of every development and the people behind them.
Speaking of knowledge of people, he’s full of anecdotes and details about employees with the district – and it’s those people that makes him so confident in the future of Elkford.
“Internally one of my goals was to try to promote as many as we could without going outside. The reason is because of the love of the community - they love to live here too, so it builds a strong organization.”
McKerracher said that as much as he mentored those that came through, “as a good mayor I like to give direction and then step out of the way. … I don’t get involved in the day to day - that’s their position, and their job to do that.”
First elected to the council in 2002, and as mayor in 2005, McKerracher has contested six elections and been acclaimed as mayor for two of them – in 2011 and 2018 he was unchallenged, so he’s speaking from a position of considerable experience when he shares advice on public office.
“My advice to any new mayor - or any councillor - is stay off facebook. You don’t need to do facebook. All that is is a poison pill for anyone that wants to stir up trouble.
“The other thing is to listen. Don’t make your decision based on what the public is saying, but add it to your information. Your best decision is made from information from your staff. They’re the people that do the work and know what’s going on. If you base your decision on public input, you might make the wrong decision because they don’t have the information the staff do. So lend to the staff first, and then add the feedback from the public to do the job properly.”
Originally from Trail, McKerracher has lived in Elkford for almost as long as it has existed, and has literally played a part in building it up over time as a crane operator, and then at the mines, and then in industry roles before finding his way into public office.
In addition to his public service for Elkford, he’s spent 17 years on the Regional District board representing Elkford and seven years as chair of the regional hospital board. He’s been involved in community groups and after retirement suggested that he’ll end up involved with plenty more.
Besides mentor those coming through the district in elected or bureaucratic roles, the District of Elkford was part of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM)’s program from 2014-2019 that sought to connect Canadian local governments with counterparts in Peru and Colombia to share ideas and advice on how to lead communities – a program that saw him visit Latin America to share his advice with communities adjacent to mining, like Elkford.
“One of my highlights of my whole career was being able to share my knowledge,” he said, recounting stories of how communities there were connected to power, linked by better roads and developed better relations with each other thanks to advice from Canadian municipalities and mayors.
His legacy isn’t just in knowledge, but in results, with the Community Centre (officially Teck Hall) built during his tenure on land he and the district managed to negotiate from the province.
It’s a whole story of its own, but the short version involves the district offering $50K for an old school the province wanted $3 million for, and eventually getting it for $75K – and that’s leaving out the end of the old school building, negotiations with insurers and construction of the hall itself, which McKerracher has detailed knowledge of, and a deep sense of pride in. The name of the hall comes from a $1-million donation from Teck in 2011, reducing costs to the community. While the hall cost $6 million, it was mostly funded through grants and donations.
In stepping away from the Mayor role – something that despite the acknowledgement it’s time for him to go, he says he dislikes the idea of – McKerracher said that there were a few things he’d like to see for Elkford in the future, such as a larger population, more housing options, more commerce and more amenities that can keep locals shopping local.
“You can’t put off leaving until a project is done,” he said. “There’s always more projects!”
In retirement, he says he “wont be sitting still” for long. After a break, he says he’ll stay involved in the community.
“I’d like to thank my family … I couldn’t have done this job without my wife’s support, and my girls.
“I would also ask you to add a big thank you to the community for their support and confidence they showed in allowing me to work for them for the 20 years.”
McKerracher will remain Mayor up until a new one is elected in the October municipal elections. While he didn’t reveal who he was backing to replace him as mayor, he said that he was confident in the ability and vision of his colleagues in council.
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scott.tibballs@thefreepress.ca
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