Ernie Margetson wins Mayoral Race

Ernie Margetson will be the County’s next mayor, defeating Brad Nieman with 8,261 votes to Nieman’s 3,598.

“It’s a new chapter in my life and I’m looking forward to it. I’m grateful for everybody who voted for me but I pledge to work for all of the people in the County. I’m looking forward to it, and I’m looking forward to the challenge,” Mr. Margetson said.

Though he has not had time to fully digest the results, Margetson said he is ready to build a team with all of the elected councillors.

“I’m just looking forward to building a team. Whoever is successful, I look forward to working with them and trying to build a team that is respectful of each other right from the outset, so we can start off on the right foot.

An over-50 percent voter turnout — the final tally was 50.7 percent — means the ballot question on a size of Council review, which passed handily at 70 percent Yes votes, will be binding.

Council will keep some experienced hands at the tiller: it moves forward with a new Mayor and 7 new councillors, while keeping 6 incumbents. Three were acclaimed — Braney, Engelsdorfer, and HIrsch — and three won re-election: Grosso, MacNaughton and Roberts all managed to keep their seats. As for the Ward races, here are the results.

Ward 1- Picton

Jane Lesslie and Kate MacNaughton will be the councillors in Picton. Lesslie had 1,481 votes, and MacNaughton a close second with 1,238 votes. Incumbent Councillor Phil St-Jean trailed in third with 793 votes.

Ward 2- Bloomfield Hallowell

Kane Rutgers and Mark Henry will represent Bloomfield Hallowell after winning with 1,105 and 819 votes respectively.

“It was surreal. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I put my best effort forward, we had a big turnout of voters and I really appreciate that,” Mr. Rutgers said. “I’m excited to work with Mark Henry, I want to congratulate everyone who ran, and Ernie as well. I think he’ll be great for the County. We were fortunate to have three strong candidates for mayor this time around.”

Ward 3- Wellington

Corey Engelsdorfer- Acclaimed

Ward 4- Ameliasburgh

Andreas Bolik, Dianne O’Brien and Sam Grosso will hold seats in Ameliasburgh. Bolik led the pack of six candidates with 1,604 votes, O’Brien earned 1,329, and Grosso trailed the two at 904.

Ward 5- Athol

Emily Jane Pickstock earned the seat in Athol with 268 votes, narrowly beating Anna Zak’s 242.

Ward 6- Sophiasburgh

Bill Roberts earned 522 votes to hold off Megan Hutton, who earned 344 votes in second place.

Ward 7- Hillier

Chris Braney – Acclaimed

Ward 8- North Marysburgh

Ken Morton won the vote in North Marysburgh with 402 votes. Tracey Stevens came in second place with 303 votes. Mr. Morton said the result is a reflection of his pounding the pavement during the campaign. He estimates he visited 700 homes in North Marysburgh.

“It’s nice, to win by 99 votes. It was clear I did my job. I think we knocked on 700 doors. I’m going to be looking to get my feet went and go slow, and then dive in when we need to. No major changes, I just have to worry about absorbing it all.”

Ward 9- South Marysburgh

John Hirsch- Acclaimed