DAWSON CITY – Julia Spriggs has become Dawson City’s latest member of the town’s municipal council, scoring 97 of the 171 votes that were cast in the rather disappointing turn-out for last Thursday’s byelection.

It was clear when nearly 25 votes had been tallied before anyone else’s name was announced that Spriggs would win the race.

She took 81 of the 131 votes cast on the actual voting day, as well as an additional 16 of those cast in the advance poll the week before, along with the special ballot (write-in) poll.

Dick Van Nostrand polled 37 votes on the actual day, picking up an additional 13 in the other polls for a total of 50.

Sue Lancaster took a total of 17 votes and Julie Kruhlak a total of six.

Lancaster was at the recreation centre for the count. She had been the first one to declare her intention to run.

Not wanting to see another win by acclamation, as had happened for council seats last October, Lancaster was relieved when three other candidates meant there would have to be an election for the position. It was vacated when Ema Archbold moved out of town to take a job elsewhere.

Returning officer Charles Brunner said that numbers for byelections were often low in his experience, but that he and his team had tried hard to drum up interest.

Nevertheless, there were people who had no idea there was a byelection in the offing when he told them about it, and others who complained to him about too many notices and reminders.

As an ironic footnote to the evening, the very last person to make it to the poll was the one who had held Brunner’s position for many years and many elections.

Archbold’s departure had been reported in both the Klondike Sun and the Star, as was the election date, when it was decided by council over a month ago.

Last Saturday, the 30-year-old Spriggs was busy moving into her new home on Dawson’s town side and mowing her lawn after having lived in a tiny home in Sunnydale for the last few years.

She said in an interview she said she was looking forward to the challenge and glad to feel she was going to be of service.

After high school here, she took a degree at S. FX in Nova Scotia and studied for her CPA accreditation in Vancouver, eventually gaining a job with BDO in Whitehorse.

In her mind it was a step toward getting back to home, which she did as soon as an opportunity arose.

The first job in Dawson didn’t work out for her, but it paved the way to doing some fill-in work for the City of Dawson, and then full time employment with Chief Isaac Inc. as finance director, until April.

At that point, Spriggs accepted a position as the chief reinvestment officer for the Na-Cho Nyak Dun Development Corp. Since she can do this work from a distance, she has settled on buying a larger home in Dawson.

All of her positions since returning to the Klondike have made her feel like she was making a contribution as well as earning a living.

Spriggs had previously decided to run the next time there was a municipal election, having not liked the idea of the entire council (except for the mayor) having been acclaimed.

She was urged by a number of her friends to run this time, and was unable to come up with a reason why she shouldn’t.

“It’s why I moved back to Dawson,” she said.

“You’d be walking down the street and people would be, ‘Oh you’re back. How are you?’

“And it’s not just small talk. They really are interested in how you’re doing, and I see, when I succeed, I see how the community shares in that success with me. It’s not just mine, it’s ours.

“I really feel like I was raised by this whole town,” Spriggs added.

“I owe who I am and where I am to so many different people. I think there’s a good chunk of the town that can claim that they babysat me at one time or another.”

When the results appeared on the Town Cryer and Buyer, there were several dozen congratulatory posts, to which Spriggs responded:

“I’m feeling very honoured and humbled right now. This town sure knows how to get me in the feels. Thank you so much to Sue, Julie and Dick.

“It takes courage to put your name forward. I’m looking forward to the steep learning curve ahead.”

This is not the first time Dawson has had to fill a position with a by-election. Current Mayor Bill Kendrick stepped up to fill a council seat in 2010 when Ashley Doiron resigned part-way through her second term.