Earle Couper
Record Staff
There are two new faces on Cumberland council following the Nov. 15 civic elections.
Newcomers Jesse Ketler and Sean Sullivan will join incumbents Gwyn Sproule and Roger Kishi at the council table. There were eight candidates running for councillor. Sproule topped the voting with 703, Ketler was second with 609, Kishi third with 555 and Sullivan fourth with 538.
Unsuccessful in their bid to earn a seat at the council table were Roger Albert (521), Michael Walton (500), Steven Royer (290) and Colin Failler (116). Chief Election Officer Rachel Parker noted these were preliminary results, with official results expected Tuesday, Nov. 18 from the Chief Election Officer.
Of an estimated 2,700 eligible voters, Parker said the turnout was 1,101, which broke down into 872 casting their ballots on voting day and 229 advance voters.
“(The voting) has been steady all day,” she said Saturday just prior to the polls closing at 8 p.m.
Incumbent Mayor Leslie Baird won by acclamation.
First-time candidate Ketler said she was “very excited” to be elected and is looking forward to working with a good group on Village council.
“I ran to represent young families in Cumberland. My background is in water (Ketler has a Master’s degree in Bioresource Engineering from McGill with a focus on Integrated Water Resource Management and runs an environmental consulting business based out of the village) and I want to help improve Cumberland’s water system,” she said.
Sproule will be serving her fifth term on council and this is the third consecutive election in which she has garnered the most votes.
This will be Kishi’s second term on council. He too is focused on the growth of young families in the village.
Sullivan is a carpenter who has helped restore some of the village’s heritage buildings. At the same time, he has an eye on supporting the growth that has welcomed and made way for new residents.
In other results, Vickey Brown was elected school trustee by acclamation. Brown has a background in community development, non-profit management and community economic development along with her education in Environmental Studies and Political Science. For the past four years she’s sat on the board of the Cumberland Community Schools Society; three years as chair.
In the CVRD Opinion Question (“How much annual property tax would you be willing to pay to reduce homelessness?
•$0
• up to $5 per year for a home assessed at $300,000
• up to $10 per year for a home assessed at $300,000), 218 voted $0, 243 voted up to $5 and 514 voted up to $10.
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