With two councillors retiring, three seeking higher positions and one incumbent defeated, the biggest council reshuffle in Halton Hills’ political history took place Monday night.
Six new faces will be giving their constituents a voice in local government. One is a political rookie who dethroned a household name, others filled vacant seats and, of course, several veterans are returning to their roles.
Here are your local representatives for the next four years who will serve alongside newly-elected Mayor Ann Lawlor.
Wards 1 and 2 regional councillor
Councillor Clark Somerville ran unopposed and was acclaimed in August.
Wards 3 and 4 regional councillor
Jane Fogal initially announced that she was going to retire from politics, but jumped back in the race in July.
She took 55 per cent of the vote to defeat Ward 3 councillor Wendy Farrow-Reed, who was looking to upgrade to the region.
Ward 1
Acton BIA’s Alex Hilson defeated veteran Councillor Jon Hurst, who has been representing Ward 1 since 2003. Hilson brought in 41 per cent of the vote, and Hurst took 28 per cent.
At 31 per cent, Mike Albano will be returning to council to continue the work he was been doing since a by-election in 2015 brought him into public service.
Ward 2
Eight candidates tried to squeeze through the door to the council chambers to represent Ward 2 and two won out in the closest race in the election. President of Terra Cotta Cookie Co. Jason Brass earned the highest number of votes at 20.7 per cent.
Joseph Racinsky, who makes history as the youngest councillor to be elected at 20, won the second seat with 18.7 per cent of the vote.
The pair will be filling the considerable shoes of soon-to-retire councillor Ted Brown and Bryan Lewis, who lost his bid for mayor to Ann Lawlor.
Ward 3
Moya Johnson’s retirement for health reasons and Wendy Farrow-Reed’s regional candidacy opened the door for newcomers Chantal Garneau and Ron Norris to win the positions.
Garneau brought in 38 per cent of the vote and Norris took 24 per cent, beating our three other candidates.
Ward 4
Bob Inglis will be returning as councillor, holding onto his seat with 42 per cent of the vote.
With current Ward 4 Councillor Ann Lawlor clinching the mayor’s job, Inglis will now be serving alongside D’Arcy Keene, who earned 33 per cent of the vote and defeated Blake Mandarino.
Other election results can be found on the Town of Halton Hills’ website.
