Stew Young and his fellow councillors have all been re-elected to serve Langford for another term.
Mayor Stew Young is entering his seventh term, and has been mayor since incorporation. He was challenged by Chris Johnson, a Port Renfrew resident, but found little competition and defeated him by nearly 2,000 votes.
“I am happy we can all continue with what we are doing,” Young said.
Couns. Denise Blackwell and Winnie Sifert have also earned their seats for the seventh term as well.
“We all work so well together,” Sifert said.
“It seems like it was just yesterday, but you look around and it all looks so different,” Blackwell said.
This election Langford found itself with the lowest voter turnout on the West Shore with only 14 per cent.
“I always worry as a mayor,” Young said when it comes election time. Prior to this election Young was told by many people that they weren’t going to vote because they knew he’d win. Young thought the drop in voter turn out was due to complacency.
Young explained the current council members work so well together and are able to accomplish what they do because they are working toward the same goal.
“We actually want to make Langford a better place … When you start at the bottom you have to work harder to get to the top and we are kind of there now (after six terms).”
“What I love about Langford is how urban meets nature here and we want to keep it that way,” Coun. Lillian Szpak said.
Couns. Szpak, Lanny Seaton, Matt Sahlstrom and Roger Wade have also be re-elected.
“We are going to make sure we get that swimming pool and get that train running the right way,” Sahlstrom said.
With no seats being changed at the council table, the work of council this term will continue as usual.
In this term council members plan to build a swimming pool, add more bike lanes, work on making the city more affordable to live in, bring government jobs to city and finish projects such as the Spencer interchange.
“We will work hard to attract jobs and good businesses to the West Shore,” Young said.
Both council hopefuls Grant McLachlan and Sean Horgan were unable to earn a seat in this election. McLachlan, an 18-year-old high school graduate, received 1,219 votes, 421 votes less than Wade.
“I did the best I could,” McLachlan said.
Horgan received 1,019 votes after running a low-profile campaign and not attending any all-candidates meetings.
