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Malvina Rapko gets used to people thinking they know her when she knocks on doors in Ward 8.

Rapko is attempting a feat believed to be unprecedented in the history of Saskatoon city council: succeeding her younger sister, Sarah Gersheras councilor for the east side electoral district.

“There was a time when someone thought I was Sarina and…started talking to me like I was,” Rapko said in an interview last week.

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Saskatoon City Archivist Jeff O’Brien cited a few examples of relatives who have served on council for more than a century, but there is no apparent precedent for a family member to be elected to the same seat on the council.

One of the closest precedents is that of Aden Bowman and his wife, Lillie, who both served on the council (Aden from 1941 to 1952, then Lillie from 1955 to 1964). But councilors were then elected as a whole rather than to represent distinct areas of the city.

Frances Stacey (1954-56) followed her father George Potter (1914-17 and 1925-26) to the council.

James R. Wilson served as councilor and mayor (1903-04 and 1907-08) when Saskatoon was a city; his brother, Russell Wilson, later served on the council after Saskatoon became a city from 1923 to 1926, including a short period as mayor that ended with a stroke.

Robert W. Caswell represented Ward 5 on the City Council for three terms in the early 20th century and his son, Walter B. Caswell, served as alderman from 1935 to 1946. Alfred E. Bence (1916-18) and his son , Alfred H. Bence (39-1940 and 1947-52), were also elected under different systems.

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Gersher announced earlier this year that she would not run for a third term.

“Some people asked us if we were competing against each other,” Rapko laughed. “Friends were asking me if everything was okay.”

Gersher won his first election handily and received nearly half the vote in 2020. But Rapko faces a different challenge with eight candidates vying for the vacant seat.

The bubbly 45-year-old realizes that her family ties could increase or harm her electoral chances. Regardless, she emphasized that she and Gersher are very different people.

Although Rapko, who ran unsuccessfully to represent Ward 8 on the public school board in 2020, sought advice from Gersher, she is running her own campaign.

One of the key differences between the two, Rapko said, is that she views her social responsibility through a “tax lens” because of her background in the business world.

Both sisters entered their first municipal campaigns with a legacy of volunteer work, Rapko said outside the College Park School; she helped place a yellow clothing donation bin in front of the school.

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Both of Rapko’s children attended the school, but her family lives in Ward 10 because they couldn’t find a house to buy in Ward 8. She said she has maintained ties to the neighborhood 8 thanks to his volunteer work.

She admitted, however, to having encountered skepticism because she no longer lives in the neighborhood where she grew up.

The eight candidates running in Ward 8 represent the most in any race this election. Rapko faces Darren Abrey, Henri Chan, Scott Ford, Prathamesh kale, Ron Mantyka, Peggy Schmeiser and Kevin Zarycki.

Before Gersher’s election, the district was represented for one term by Eric Olauson, who dominated a four-way race with about 36 percent of the vote in 2012. Olauson then served a turbulent term as a congressman. Member of Parliament for the Saskatchewan Party. He’s back on the ballot for this Saskatoon Separate School Board election.

Rapko said she views the council’s long meetings and other challenges as part of its obligation to give back to the community. Her family emigrated from Moldova, in the former Soviet Union, when she was a child.

“We often talk about how grateful we are to Saskatchewan and Saskatoon and allowing us to be free in a way that we weren’t in a country where we have at least a century of lineage.”

Phil Tank is the digital opinion editor of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.

ptank@postmedia.com

twitter.com/thinktankSK

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