Three incumbents lose in West Kelowna
The winds of change have blown through West Kelowna with preliminary results showing the election of a new mayor and three new councillors.
As expected, Gord Milsom was elected mayor with close to 80 per cent of the vote.
Milsom took 6,050 votes to Mary Mandarino’s 1,257.
Milsom, who began working toward becoming mayor of West Kelowna in June 2017, said he is ready to start on the job immediately.
“I’m looking forward to working with this council that was also elected,” he said.
Stephen Johnston, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor of West Kelowna in 2014, received the highest number of votes for any West Kelowna councilor with 4,277.
“We left nothing out on the field,” he said of his campaign, noting he did over 15,000 steps Friday hitting 5,800 doors.
“We put in the work and we’re just thrilled with the result,” he said.
Another newcomer, Jayson Zilkie, took the second highest number of votes with 3,373.
Incumbent Rick de Jong will return to council with 3,329 votes.
Former West Kelowna mayor Doug Findlater will move over to become a councilor. He took 2,955 votes.
Incumbent Carol Zanon was reelected with 2,794 votes.
Jason Friesen took the sixth and final seat on council with 2,740 votes; however, incumbent Rosalind Neis finished just 23 votes behind Friesen
Incumbents Rusty Ensign and Bryden Winsby also lost their seats on council.
Chantelle Desrosiers was elected school board trustee
Only 7,585 votes were cast of an estimated 24,520 voters. for a voter turnout of 29 per cent.
Official results will be declared Wednesday at 3 p.m. in council chambers.