Kristy Bjarnason has been declared as the winner for the councillor by-election for the village of Burns Lake council held on Jan. 23.
Bjarnason received a total of 55 votes, followed by David Cummer who received 45 and Joshua Platt received 27 votes as per the preliminary election results released by Sheryl Worthing, the village chief administrative officer and the elections officer.
“I want to thank everyone who came out and voted for this by-election. It was so very close but it was a great race. I’m glad to be joining a great team, and looking forward to doing my part to represent Burns Lake residents. I am genuinely looking forward to hearing your input as we go forward,” said Bjarnason in a Facebook post.
Bjarnason who had been in Burns Lake for just over three years, first came to the village around 2013 with the plans of making Burns Lake her vacation spot and eventually “retire way off in the future.” However, in 2016 when Bjarnason ended up spending more time in town, she saw herself actually being a part of the community and thought that there was no reason to wait to move to Burns Lake. After this, she took up a position at the hospital and then the theatre.
Worthing told Lakes District News in an email that the results of the by-election would be made official by her, after the challenge period ends next Tuesday.
This year’s by-election was held with several modifications, keeping in mind the COVID-19 restrictions and the polling station was set up in the multipurpose room at the Lakeside Multiplex to ensure a safe delivery of the elections with mandatory masks, separate stations set up for each step in the voting process, etc.
Bjarnason will be filling in the position left vacant by Darrell Hill, after he accepted a position with the Regional District of Bulkley Nechako (RDBN) as a bylaw enforcement officer.
In a Facebook post on the Mayor Dolores Funk’s official page, she posted, “A huge congratulations and welcome to our newest member of council, Kristy Bjarnason! I look forward to working with you.”
Priyanka Ketkar
Multimedia journalist
@PriyankaKetkar
priyanka.ketkar@ldnews.net
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