Barrie mayoral candidate Ram Faerber, who has ran in elections at various levels, says Monday night’s election was the end of the line for him.
“I’m done with politics,” he told BarrieToday on Monday night after losing decisively to incumbent Jeff Lehman. “People have issues when you talk to them and they’ll tell you their problems, but they won’t come out to vote.
"It’s a very big problem with our democracy," he added.
On Monday night, Faerber received 2,467 votes, which represents just over nine per cent.
Faerber, who owns and operates a recycling company in Barrie, ran for mayor in the 2014 election, receiving 1,181 votes or 4.13 per cent of the vote, finishing in a distant second in the four-person race. He also ran as an independent in this past summer’s provincial election in the Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte riding.
On Monday night, Lehman secured a third term as mayor and consecutive elections with more than 90 per cent of the votes that were cast in the municipal contest.
“Jeff Lehman has his support base which, compared to the number of people who are eligible to vote, his support base is only 20 to 25 per cent,” Faerber said. “People just don’t show up to the polls.”
Faerber said he was happy with his campaign and was able to bring up many issues.
“I’m very proud of what I did and I ran a campaign to the best of my ability,” he said. “I had to work 10 to 15 hours a day, every day, throughout this election cycle.
"I’m happy with what I did, but I feel really bad for most of the people of Barrie, because we have issues and they just didn’t come out," he added.
Faerber wished Lehman well in his next four-year term, but "I don’t see much change in Barrie for the next few years.”
