Dobson up against two tech types in St. James council race

Two tech-savvy newcomers to civic politics are taking on Shawn Dobson, the incumbent city councillor in St. James.

Tyler Crichton, a senior project manager for a corporate IT company, and Kelly Ryback, a retired manager with Bell MTS, are hoping to oust Dobson, who is seeking a second term in the ward.

Dobson has a long resumé as a candidate; he ran unsuccessfully in the former St. Charles ward in 2002, 2006 and 2010 before winning that council seat in 2014. He lost his bid for a second term in 2018 in St. James to then-councillor and current Mayor Scott Gillingham in 2018.

When Gillingham jumped into the 2022 mayoral race, Dobson secured the St. James seat.

“I see a lot of things that have to be finished here in this ward. Right now, I’m looking at CentrePort, and it’s coming along quite nicely,” Dobson, 67, told the Free Press.

The trimodal inland industrial port, located in northwest Winnipeg and Rosser, is expanding with CentrePort South, near the airport, and is expected to attract aviation and aerospace industry companies, along with new housing to support them.

“CentrePort is going to provide jobs, it’s going to provide housing, it’s going to provide an industrial base for the city of Winnipeg, it’s going to help our airport, it’s going to help Manitoba. It’s going to be basically a good news story for St. James and for Winnipeg.”

Dobson, who pointed to his work on playgrounds, parks and community centres in the ward, said he wants to push for the city to send out water and waste bills monthly, rather than quarterly, to help residents paying bills on tight budgets. And he wants to seek more support from the federal government in sharing the burden of those bills.

“I’m going to be trying to get them reduced, or at least stabilized, through talking to the federal government, perhaps getting them to give us a larger portion for all the projects we’re doing for water and waste,” he said.

He also wants to open a rotating ward office availability at community clubs across the ward.

Dobson wants voters to know he’s the only candidate of the three who lives in the ward.

“I feel, at the door, people are saying that they want a candidate that actually lives in the community,” he said.

Crichton said he lived in St. James for 17 years before moving closer to downtown to support his wife’s schedule as an emergency services worker; they plan to move back at some point.

Other things are more important, he said.

“(Dobson) has to do what he has to do, I guess, for his own campaign,” said Crichton, 38.

“But I wish he would focus on his own accomplishments, and if he was showing up for the community, he would know that we’re out there and working really hard for St. James.”

Safety is the priority concern he’s hearing about at the door, particularly an increase in violent crime around Polo Park and in the Unicity area.

Crichton wants to fund and organize a series of neighbourhood watch groups that would patrol the St. James area.

“It’ll have a presence in the community, it’ll help people get connected with their neighbours again and we can also watch out for things that are going on in our neighbourhood,” he said.

Being more communicative with residents is another priority; a skill he said he’s picked up through his work in project management.

“The most successful you can be as a project manager is in your communication back to your people,” he said. “Even if the project is going well or if the project is going terribly, you have to pick up the phone, you have to answer emails, you have to let people know what’s going on.”

Crichton has gathered endorsements from the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg, the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505 and the Winnipeg Labour Council.

Ryback, 62, is a familiar face at council meetings. Since retiring in 2020, he said he’s appeared at city hall to voice concerns on various issues more than 100 times.

He said those discussions — at times focused on traffic concerns, Winnipeg Transit and public works projects — have made an impact.

“I’m running because I’ve proven that one person can invoke change at city hall with the work that I’ve done,” he said.

“I think I’d be more effective for St. James if I was elected. I’ve actually been doing the work as a councillor, so our call-out to the residents is, let’s just make it official.”

Ryback, who lives in Westwood, near the St. James ward’s boundary, ran unsuccessfully against Dobson in 2022.

This time, he wants to address poverty and crime in the ward and beyond. Like Crichton, he pitched community-led safety patrols in St. James.

He also said he would push to set up a managed encampment site in Winnipeg, and that city council has “failed” so far in bringing together other levels of government and front-line organizations to address the issue.

“(They’ve) got to be in one room, working on one plan and supporting each other, and that hasn’t happened,” he said.

He’d also push for a performance review of the transit network overhaul that took place last year, and wants to see higher review standards across city hall.

“The performance of all departments and council needs to change. The culture at city hall, with all departments, needs to change,” he said.

“There’s too much waste and non-profitability, and it’s actually disrespectful to those employees who are trying hard — that the status quo is not working.”

Ryback will be familiar to thousands of older Winnipeg football fans, the majority of whom likely don’t know it.

He spent 16 years, beginning in 1984, as “Buzz,” partner of “Boomer” — the Blue Bombers’ helmet-wearing bird mascots.

Paul Robson, the former Blue Bomber who went on to manage the Winnipeg Football Club and hired the mascots, has endorsed Ryback’s candidacy.

Election Day is Oct. 28.

malak.abas@winnipegfreepress.com