Penticton's Shannon Stewart (centre) claimed victory in Saturday's byelection to claim a seat on Penticton council. Stewart finished more than 250 votes ahead of runner-up Juliana Buitenhuis. Stewart celebrated her victory at the Barley Mill pub with good friends Pierre Patenaude and Deborah Shields.

Image Credit: Keith Lacey, Local Journalism Initiative

Make it a clean sweep for the co-founders of Penticton's Clean Streets Facebook page as the group's co-founder Shannon Stewart became the newest member of Penticton council Saturday evening after claiming a decisive victory in a civic byelection.

The unofficial voting results announced Saturday evening had Stewart, a career social worker and single mother to three adult men, winning the byelection with 963 votes or 31.5 per cent of ballots cast.

She edged Juliana Buitenhuis by more than 250 votes as Buitenhuis garnered 707 votes or 23 per cent of ballots cast. Wayne Llewellyn finished a distant third with 335 votes, or 11 per cent of the ballots cast.

Stewart now joins fellow Clean Streets co-founder and local business owner Jason Reynen on Penticton council after Reynen won in a landslide in this past April's byelection to replace Amelia Boultbee, who successfully ran in last October's provincial election and became the MLA for the Penticton-Summerland riding.

Stewart will be the lone female voice on council as she replaces Helena Konanz, who successfully ran for the federal Conservative Party and became the MP for federal riding of Similkameen-South Okanagan-West Kootenay in April's federal election.

Stewart is best known for being the administrator of the Clean Streets Penticton Facebook page.

The goal of the community group is to reduce the impacts of crime, violence and antisocial activity by providing support, information and assistance to any community members that request it. It is a secure forum to share information and decrease vulnerability through facilitation of connection to a supportive neighbourhood organization.

The group currently has just over 6,200 members on Facebook.

Stewart was celebrating her victory with good friends Pierre Patenaude and Deborah Shields at the Barley Mill Saturday evening.

Stewart said she was very confident of a good result heading into election day as she felt she and her supporters ran a strong campaign over the past several weeks.

"I was very calm and composed as I felt I had presented myself well and had been authentic as I could be with everyone I met during the campaign in the short period of time I committed to this over the past four weeks," she said. "In that short period of time, I feel like I gave people a good understanding of who I was and that if they liked what I had to say, they would show up and vote for me."

Stewart ran for a seat on Penticton council three years ago and finished a distant 11th out of 17 candidates.

That experience taught her a lot and gave her a taste of running a political campaign for the first time and increased her passion for politics, which really didn't exist growing up, she said.

"I was probably the least political person I know," she said. "I was very inexperienced and very unaware of how things operated when I ran three years ago, but that experience was a catalyst for me becoming more involved and learning more and being more aware of important issues in our community."

Stewart said her heart raced when she opened her phone just past 8 p.m. and discovered she had won the byelection.

"I was astounded," she said. "I had opened up the Zoom link on my phone and just put it to the side because in previous years and byelections, it took a little while to count the votes. All of a sudden, I could hear a voice coming from my phone and Angie (Collison, chief electoral officer for the byelection) was talking.

"They put up the grid (results) around 8:15 and I was looking at my companions and couldn't believe the results were in already. Then I realized I had actually won. There was a lot of disbelief for a few minutes, but I was obviously thrilled."

Stewart said she has "no doubts" that her involvement and support from members of Clean Streets Penticton played a large role in her winning the byelection.

Clean Streets had already been formed when she and Reynen got involved and became official administrators for the organization, said Stewart.

"The group actually did exist before Jason and I got involved and we worked together and rebranded the identity and shared some ideas around how to grow and develop it," she said. "Jason is obviously a very busy man already (he owns Performance Auto Care and Exhaust garage in Penticton) and has added more on his plate by winning the seat on council.

"When Jason stepped back on his duties with Clean Streets, I had the opportunity to sort of become more involved behind the scenes and work even more to support the group and we have since added other administrators ... and I became even more involved. There's a big team now that helps run the organization and it's a real team effort that has seen us grow exorbitantly. I'm very thankful for the support I've received from our members during this campaign.

"I would think that my voice and my representation would resonate with people who are members certainly, but to be honest, I don't think I'm a single platform candidate and I think I'm pretty diverse and I have some pretty broad experience and education that allows me to represent a wide spectrum of people this community is made up of. There aren't a lot of people I can't relate to or connect with."

Stewart said public safety will be a top priority as she voices her opinions and beliefs as the newest member of Penticton council.

"I've been pretty transparent in saying I'm not a miracle worker and I don't expect to come in a wave a magic wand as I'm one person with one vote and I don't expect to create massive changes.

"But this is a phenomenal opportunity for me to learn the systems, the practices and the policies that are in play as a member of council. Obviously, I'm going to weigh in on the things that come across our desk and make decisions on key issues we are asked to direct and guide. I think it's a really phenomenal opportunity to make sure the voices of the people are heard and represented. I know crime is top of mind with many residents and I will be their voice on those matters when they arise as well. I will make sure the peoples' voices are being represented in the decisions being made by council."

There are a lot of administrative tasks and rules and regulations she's going to have to study and learn in the coming weeks as the newest member of council, but she's up for it, said Stewart.

She assisted Reynen, who remains a good friend, while he learned the ropes after winning the April byelection and that will give her a "big head start" in learning the ropes in the coming weeks and months, she said.

"I think in terms of having a realistic expectation of what happens next is a card up my sleeve because of being able to help and listen to Jason on his learning curve," she said.

Stewart said she wouldn't make any promises to local residents except to work hard and be transparent in everything she does on council.

"Over and above everything else, I've been preaching transparency and accountability," she said. "We, as a council, have to work real hard to establish trust between the community and council because I feel like there has been significant damage to that relationship over the past couple of years.

"I don't think there's been an opportunity to really grow and develop those avenues of communication and really solidify the strength in the relationship, so truthfully, that's a top priority for me. The people need to know they are using their voice to elect people who will be their voice. I'm pretty authentic and an open book. What you see is what you get."

Stewart said the thought of being a member of council excites her as she's never been afraid of hard work as a single mother and career social worker.

"I am a worker and I just put one foot in front of the other and keep going and addressing the tasks at hand," she said. "I haven't set my sights too far ahead and I just want to make sure to take on each task as it comes before me. The diversity of the jobs coming my way as a member of council are really fun to think about."

Being the only female member of council is something she's proud to take on as well, said Stewart.

"I've raised three sons as a single mom, a 34-year-old and twin 22 year olds, who are massively big people in my world and I don't think I'll have any trouble holding my own," she said. "I look forward to representing a very strong female perspective."

Stewart said she will "100 per cent" be seeking re-election during the next municipal election in October of 2026 and promised she "is not going anywhere" and has no aspirations of running for higher office.

"This is where my heart is and where my family is and where my energy will be directed," she said.

A total of 3,049 were cast, down from 3,659 that were cast earlier this year in the first byelection (to replace Amelia Boultbee) and was down from the 2021 byelection where 5,009 votes were counted.

Here are the unofficial byelection results from the City of Penticton:

1. Shannon Stewart, 963 (31.5%)

2. Juliana Buitenhius, 707 (23%)

3. Wayne Llewellyn, 335 (11%)

4. Nick Stulberg, 282

5. Janine Walker 141

6. Aaron Baisarowicz, 130

7. Philip Soloman 121

8. Ankit Sachdeva, 111

9. Jordan Shade, 93

10. John Archer 92

11. Jason Town, 42

12. Darcy Derbyshire, 32

— This article was originally published by the Penticton Herald

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