5 new faces fronting Island communities
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 | 8:43 AM AT
CBC News
Elections for P.E.I.'s smaller communities Monday night pushed forward a number of new faces, along with a couple of veterans.
The only incumbent returned to the job was Lewis Levandier in Georgetown, who took over the mayor's job mid-term when Peter Llewellyn stepped down.
In Montague Richard Collins goes back to the mayor's job, which he held from 2003-06, winning by a 47-vote margin with almost 700 votes cast. That's a large margin of victory in a town where the last three elections have been decided by single-digits.
Also elected Monday night were:
- Micheal Murphy, mayor of Alberton.
- Gordon Coffin, mayor of Kensington.
- David M. MacDonald, mayor of Souris.
- Fred Leard, chairperson of Borden-Carleton community council.
- Gerard LeClair, chairperson of Tignish community council.
Acrimony in Montague
Citizens of Montague will be watching to see if Collins can repair a broken relationship between council and mayor.
'I hope that he doesn't get bullied in the same way that I did.'— Outgoing Montague mayor Pat McGowan
That relationship shattered last winter. Councillors complained Mayor Pat McGowan was trying to run the town without them, and unanimously called for her resignation. McGowan stayed on, but was on sick leave much of the year. She did not re-offer.
Following his victory, Collins said he's up for the challenge.
"We had a mayor with no council and a council with no mayor," he said.
"The town is in a chaotic situation and I'm looking forward to putting the gloves away, put the swords away, put the knives away and get down to the business of running the town."
The council was returned virtually unchanged, with five of six incumbents re-elected. The only new councillor is Peggy Whitlock, who took the seat Bernie Crawford gave up to run for mayor.
McGowan believes Collins will have his hands full with this council.
"I hope that he doesn't get bullied in the same way that I did," she said.
"I know I like to get things done. I'm out there fighting for the town all the time. I know Richard takes a more laid-back approach. I don't know. I don't know what he'll do this time."
McGowan, who had battled back and forth for the mayor's job against Collins since 2000, said it was strange to be on the sidelines in this campaign. But she said she has no regrets, especially in light of the number of returning councillors.
Busy election no contest in Souris
The four candidates running for mayor in Souris made for a contrast to the 2006 election, when the position was acclaimed.
'The outgoing mayor, Ms. Reid, she probably made the office a little more attractive.'—Souris mayor -elect David MacDonald
But in the end it wasn't much of a contest. Retired school teacher David MacDonald ran away with the election, taking roughly 70 per cent of the votes cast.
MacDonald gives outgoing Souris mayor Joanne Reid credit for making the seat more appealing this time around.
"The outgoing mayor, Ms. Reid, she probably made the office a little more attractive because she worked very hard at it and kind of raised the visibility of the mayor in the community and perhaps that led to more interest," he said.
Throughout this campaign, MacDonald said he felt he would win by a comfortable margin. He attributes most of that confidence to the fact he was the only candidate who sat on council for the past three years.
MacDonald doesn't have a long list of priorities for the town. He said he wants to wait until the new council is in place before laying out a game plan.
2-vote margin in Alberton
The closest race for mayor on the Island was in Alberton, where Micheal Murphy won by just two votes.
He collected 222 votes compared with 220 votes cast for Natasha Gilks. No one is talking recount just yet, but there were four spoiled ballots in the Alberton race.
Incumbent Perry Morrell, who was acclaimed in 2006, received support from just 16 voters.
The incumbent mayor in Kensington was also defeated soundly at the polls. Gordon Coffin rolled to victory over Barry Campbell, 331-113.
Coffin thinks his extensive involvement in the community helped him win the mayor's seat.
"I've been around town. I've been visible," he said.
"I've been on a lot of committees around town and an elder in my church, chairman of the board of stewards in my church. I was on the chamber of commerce. I believe in putting a lot back into my community."
In Tignish, Gerard Leclair is the new chairperson, taking home 132 votes. His competitor, former councillor Allan McInnis, received 36 votes.
The interesting thing about that election was there were a remarkable 43 spoiled ballots.
And in Borden-Carleton, an old face is returning to the office. Fred Leard is the new chairperson. He's quite familiar with the municipality's operations, having been the town's administrator for 30 years from 1965 to 1995.
