OW Voters Return the P.U.P. to Town Hall!
Ladrick Sheppard
We go back north to take a look at the municipals and we start with Orange Walk Town. A little over sixty percent of the voters went out the polls and at the end of the day, some six thousand one hundred and seventy-one ballots were cast. The night ended with resounding victory for the P.U.P. where the P.U.P. has been a stronghold for multiple back-to-back terms. Our reporter Andrea Polanco was in the north when victory was declared; here’s her report.
Ladrick Sheppard, Mayor Elect, Orange Walk Town
“I think the hard work that we were doing from since January ending up paying off. This is a big victory for the party because we know that Orange Walk has always been blue. If we had lost then something would have been wrong. But the end result is huge. I can’t believe the amount of votes we won this time because this is my fourth election. Running as the mayoral candidate, I think we deserved it and we are going to go work for the people.”
Andrea Polanco, Reporting
That’s Ladrick Sheppard. He was elected the Mayor of Orange Walk Town under the P.U.P. banner. Sheppard and six councilors won by a massive margin over the U.D.P. slate. The new mayor elect is no stranger to the people of Orange Walk Town because he has served as a town councilor since 2012 –and his work with youth and sports has cemented his ties with the community. And that’s how he secured his mayoral seat with four thousand five hundred and twenty-one votes, while the U.D.P. candidate Orlando Castillo received one thousand one hundred and sixty-six votes – giving Sheppard a three thousand five hundred and fifty vote margin. A dejected but hopeful Orlando Castillo conceded by nine-thirty on Wednesday night. Castillo says that while the writing may have been on the wall – the results show clearly that Orange Walk voters don’t want the U.D.P.
Orlando Castillo
Orlando Castillo, U.D.P. Mayoral Candidate, Orange Walk Town
“It reflects very poorly on what the party represents at the moment and the people are showing that they are still not contented with the UDP. So, we lost about two point one in five to east and in central we lost about five to one and those numbers speak for themselves. A mature mind has to understand that someone has to win and someone has to lose and for the first time coming up I feel excited about it and I don’t have no hard feelings against any of the candidates, winning or losing. At the end of the day this is just the start of what I want to do in Orange Walk. When you get into this young you cannot get discouraged when you suffer a loss. You need to regroup, discuss, and move forward with a proper plan to see how you can gain back that trust of the people.”
And the trust of the people, according to the pulse of the ground is rooted in the reach of the Prime Minister John Briceno. His hometown of Orange Walk showed up and showed out at the polls on Wednesday. And that was expected – at least that’s how one former area representative saw it. Elodio Aragon feels that the P.U.P.’s popularity is steeped in the PM’s influence which he says runs deep and wide in Sugar City.
Elodio Aragon Jr.
Elodio Aragon Jr., Former Area Representative Orange Walk East
“I will be sincere with you all; the P.U.P. has held the Orange Walk Town Council for the longest. Definitely times have changed and I think that at this point in time Orange Walk is a very unique town. We have the leader – the Prime Minister here and apart from that he has dominance; when I tell you dominance in business – monopolies in business from telecommunications; to media to everything you can imagine he has his hands in. So, it has always been a challenge and I have always told people that even the U.D.P. was in office we were still in opposition here in Orange Walk – so it has always been an uphill battle.”
A battle for the U.D.P. indeed because PM Briceno wasn’t breaking any sweat – even on a hot day. He was confident on the ground. He was in Orange Walk Town most of the day – visiting the polling stations; greeting residents; taking pictures – across party lines – making sure that the presence of the country’s leader was felt and that his endorsement of the Orange Walk P.U.P. team was clear.
John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“I think that wave from November the eleventh certainly is helping but also we have a very competent team. Ladrick has been in the town council since 2012 when Kevin Bernard became the mayor. He went through all the difficult periods where they tried to reorganize, restructure the town council and the work they did to work with the plan where we are today in fixing the park; fixing the street; making sure we could pick up garbage on a timely basis to make sure that Orange Walk is a clean Town and so he knows intimately the work that was done and so we have a competent team and I have the confidence that the people will come out and vote for them today.”
And the people voted overwhelmingly for the PUP candidates. Ladrick Sheppard is the new mayor and he will serve the people of Orange Walk Town along with councilor candidates Joesie Cantun; Cadir Escalante; Doreth Pascascio; Joanna Rodriguez; Fernando Sanchez and Allen Yu. Reporting for News Five, I’m Andrea Polanco.
