Walter McKenzie of West Perth will be joined by new and returning mayors in Perth County after Monday's election. (Blackburnnews.com stock photo by Ryan Drury)Walter McKenzie of West Perth will be joined by new and returning mayors in Perth County after Monday's election. (Blackburnnews.com stock photo by Ryan Drury)
Midwestern

Perth County municipal voters have their say

*For the full results, click on the town/municipality

North Perth

North Perth has spoken, as the municipality elected Todd Kasenburg as the new mayor. Kasenberg says as a fairly new resident of North Perth, it's an honour to get the support from the community.

"It's very humbling is what it is. I'm looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead, we have a great council lineup elected in our community, and I know all of us want to get down to work, and continue to do the things that make North Perth a great place to live," said Kasenburg.

Kasenberg, a North Perth resident for just over two and a half years, said one of the big issues he wants to tackle is the local workforce.

"I think like many small communities, we're concerned with the labour force reliability, there are lots of organizations, farms, industry, services that are looking for employees and struggling to find them. So, I think we're going to pay some attention to that issue," he said.

Kasenberg also pointed to affordable housing, and overall infrastructure as other items he'd like to tackle.

Doug Kellum was acclaimed as deputy mayor. Councillors who won seats include Matt Duncan, Dave Johnston and Allan Rothwell in the Elma Ward, as all three were acclaimed. The Listowel Ward saw Neil Anstett, Matt Richardson and Terry Seiler voted in. As for the Wallace Ward, Lee Anne Andriessen and Julie Behrns, the former mayor, were elected to council.

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Perth East

Perth East has elected a new mayor to represent the municipality. Rhonda Ehgoetz took the vote ahead of incumbent mayor Bob McMillan, and fellow candidate Barry Ford Nowack Jr.

Ehgoetz gave a sense of how she's feeling one day after her big victory.

"I've had numerous texts, phone calls, visits, I'm very humbled by the support I have, it's very exciting, and it's going to be a new adventure."

Ehgoetz notes there's a few things that she wants to focus on.

"We need more growth, and to keep the growth we have, we need to get more industry, housing, make ourselves more sustainable. I want council to be open and transparent. We're working on this Property Standard Officer thing, and we need to get a policy in place that's good for all the residents, as well."

Hugh McDermid took the seat as deputy mayor, ahead of Helen Dowd and Don Brunk. In terms of councillors, Amanda Broadhagen was acclaimed for the Ellice Ward. In the Milverton Ward, Jerry Smith was elected in ahead of Kevin Gilbert. For the Mornington Ward, Jeremy Matheson edged Stu MacDonald. In the Northeasthope Ward, Daryl Herlick was voted in ahead of Jeff Cressman. Finally, in the Southeasthope Ward, Andrew MacAlpine beat out Frank B. Loschmann and Paul Gras.

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West Perth

Walter MacKenzie will continue his run as mayor of West Perth, as he was acclaimed. MacKenzie says that one issue he hopes to tackle is the fire hall in Mitchell.

"The last couple trucks we've bought have just barely fit in the fire hall, and the next one we buy will not fit," said MacKenzie. "So, because of the construction, it was built in the mid to late 50s and then there's been an addition put on it. We can't make the doors bigger, and because the end walls are load-bearing walls, it's just hard to really renovate it."

MacKenzie also said he wonders if what happened to the Toronto City Council will have ripple effects.

"With what happened in Toronto with Ford downsizing Toronto Council from 47 to 25, you kind of wonder if he's got any future plans for the rest of the municipalities out there in Southwestern Ontario," he said.

Doug Eidt will serve as MacKenzie's deputy mayor, as he beat Bert Vorstenbosch Jr. for the post. Councillors voted in for Fullarton include Cheryl Matheson and Annamarie Murray, who beat out Jeff French and Don McIntosh. Cheri Bell and Nicholas Vink were acclaimed in Hibbert Ward. Same goes for Steven Herold and W. Dean Trentowsky in Logan Ward. In the Mitchell Ward, Jeff Marshall, Murray Rose and Mike Tam all earned seats, as they got by Bob Burtenshaw, Ted Crawford and P. Cameron Hume.

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Perth South

Incumbent Mayor Robert Wilhelm will retain his position as mayor of Perth South, as he beat out challenger Roger Fuhr. Wilhelm won by a fairly substantial margin as he secured another term at the helm of the municipality.

Council seats were claimed by six candidates, with seven total challenging for the seats. Jim Aitcheson, Sam Corriveau, William Jeffrey, Jamie Martin, Sue Orr and Melinda Zurbrigg were all elected. Just missing out on a seat was Alice Mainland.

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Town of St. Marys

St. Marys will continue to be under the leadership of acclaimed Mayor Al Strathdee. Strathdee said there are a number of items on his agenda for the upcoming term.

"We want to carry on with our strategic plan, we're dealing with affordable housing, a bunch of infrastructure projects, we need to do some work on our fire hall, there's a bunch of issues where we want to grow our downtown and continue to attract business," he said. "There's a lot of issues we've been working on so far, and we want to continue to do so."

Strathdee said with three people on council retiring, he's excited to work with some new faces.

"We have three people that are retiring, so that means there will be a steep learning curve for the new people that come on, and there's always a lot going on so I look forward to working with whoever the public decide," he said. "I think everyone brings their own talent and issues, and the people are always ready at the end of the day."

In terms of council's main focus, Strathdee said it comes down to managing taxpayer money wisely.

"Our main thing is we use the taxpayer's money wisely, and that we plan and work together and shoot for the best outcome. A lot of municipal council is teamwork and hashing it out and getting to the best outcome," he said. "I think that we are in a good spot as a municipality, we're growing, we got new business coming in, and I think the future is bright for the Town of St. Marys."

The councillor positions featured six spots up for grabs between 11 candidates. Jim Craigmile, Robert Charles Edney, Lynn Hainer, Margaret Luna, Fern Pridham, and Tony Winter all claimed seats. Just missing out on council positions were David Cullen, Lorraine Lori Heinbuch and Richard Hughes.

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Stratford

Dan Mathieson has been re-elected as mayor of Stratford. Before the city released the official numbers, Twitter was abuzz as a number of sources, including Mathieson himself, confirmed he was back in.

Mathieson tweeted to thank the voters of Stratford "for giving me the honour to continue serving this great community. I am humbled by the opportunity and thankful for your support. I look forward to four more years of moving Stratford forward together."

Official polling results came in just after 10 p.m.

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