Brandon has a new mayor. Dave Burgess was elected to the Wheat City's top job Wednesday night.

Burgess had served one term as a city councillor and has operated a business in Brandon for more than 20 years.

He says he's looking forward to starting his new job. "I was really pleased with the different feedback from the public. I've worked extremely hard as a councillor and during the election the same way," he says.

"I feel very proud of the work I did as councillor, some of the work that we did. All I can say is thank you."

Burgess wants to review the city-wide smoking ban earlier than was expected. Other than that, he says city council was doing a good job.

Burgess beat former Conservative MLA Jim McCrae for the job.

The citizens of Brandon also said "no" to a native-run casino through a plebiscite held at the same time as the municipal elections.

The ballot had two questions. The first asked if people supported a casino in Brandon; the second asked if they supported an urban reserve for a casino. Voters said no to both; 55 per cent against the first and 64 per cent against the second.

Katherine Whitecloud is the chief of Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, which proposed the casino. She says the plebiscite result reveals Brandon's attitude towards Sioux Valley.

"We came here with a business proposal and a business proposition and as business people," she said. "Does that mean that they're not open to the idea of doing business with us? Yes. That's how I receive this message and that's how the rest of the community will receive them."

"I would assume that this is a clear sign to the provincial government that their aboriginal gaming policy is not working".

Whitecloud isn't going to give up on building a casino, but she says the deal is over for Brandon.