Pitt Meadows voters have added two new faces to the existing council, as all incumbents have been elected for another term.
Acclaimed Mayor Nicole MacDonald will be serving as the city’s new leader, with Tracy Elke (Miyashita), Bob Meachen, Gwen O’Connell, Mike Hayes, Mike Manion, and Alison Evans as her councillors.
For school trustees, Pitt Meadows voters elected Hudson Campbell and Katie Sullivan.
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To watch the votes come in, Elke invited several family, friends, and other candidates into her Pitt Meadows home. As the crowd of around 25 people waited for the verdict, there was food, drinks, live music, and plenty of friendly conversation.
Finally, Meachen announced the results to a roar of applause, followed by short speeches made by each of the candidates, Mayor Bill Dingwall, and CAO for the City of Pitt Meadows Mark Roberts.
“It’s great to have some fresh faces on board,” said Elke, who was voted in for a fifth term as councillor.
“Alison did a lot of work this election, and so did Mike [Manion]. I’m looking forward to continue to see respectful conversations on council and I’m excited to work with Nicole [MacDonald].”
“I’m overwhelmed by all of the support from the community,” said Hayes. “This is going to be a very hard-working and cohesive council. I think the voters did the right thing tonight.”
“I’m thrilled with who’s on our council,” said current Mayor Bill Dingwall. “There’s such a good mix of people. They really represent every part of our community.”
Hudson Campbell even stopped by, after the results had been announced, and spoke about his new role as school trustee.
“I’m excited and honoured to have been elected,” said Campbell.
He also added that he was thrilled that Gabe Liosis also got elected as trustee for Maple Ridge, with the two of them having worked together in MLA Lisa Beare’s office.
“Both Gabe and I can call up the province pretty quickly, which puts us in a unique position,” explained Campbell.
Campbell ran on a platform of promoting sustainability and better climate change education in schools, needing improved safety in schools, and the City lacking a new high school, which Campbell says it desperately needs.
For the councillor race, the key issues that often arose were needing better support for small businesses, the building of an independent RCMP detachment, and concerns surrounding the new CP Rail logistics park.
On Oct. 5, all of the candidates gathered together for the first time at the South Bonson Community Centre to discuss these very issues at the all candidates meeting.
Here are the unofficial vote counts for each councillor candidate:
Tracy Elke (Miyashita) - 2,312 votes [elected]
Alison Evans - 2,190 votes [elected]
Mike Hayes - 2,007 votes [elected]
Gwen O’Connell - 1,886 votes [elected]
Bob Meachen - 1,818 votes [elected]
Mike Manion - 1,789 votes [elected]
Brad Perrie - 1,243 votes
Janis Elkerton - 1,225 votes
Jag Parmar - 958 votes
Don Jolley - 937 votes
Bryce Casidy - 579 votes
Here are the unofficial vote counts for each school board candidate:
Hudson Campbell - 1,647 votes [elected]
Katie Sullivan - 2,374 votes [elected]
David Isaac - 943 votes
All of the new officials will be sworn into office on Nov. 1 at city hall.
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