Snively in as new mayor, Voakes out as councillor
There will finally be cooperation on Essex town council, according to new mayor Larry Snively. “There will be a big change,” said Snively between hugs and handshakes at Royal Canadian Legion Branch 201 in Essex Monday night. “My plan is to move this municipality forward. Let’s start building a good industrial tax base so we can have more money for infrastructure improvements.” Joe Garon and Morley Bowman won the two available Ward 1 seats, earning 1,570 and 1,062 votes, respectively. Their victory displaces incumbent Randy Voakes, who had a history of receiving code of conduct complaints against him by fellow councillors. Several candidates mentioned defusing the volatility of council chambers if elected.
“I think we’re going to have a great council,” said Snively, who won the mayor’s seat by a mere 117 votes. “I am so happy about the selection of people who got in tonight.”
In the tight mayoral race, Snively came out on top with 2,260 votes to Ron Rogers’ 2,144. Katie McGuireBlais earned 1,358 and Rob Shepley 1,122.
Richard Meloche retained his seat as deputy mayor with 4,012 votes, defeating Phil Pocock by 1,275.
Winning a three-way race in Ward 2 was Kim Verbeek, who earned 803 votes. Terry Brockman received 499, and Mark Williams received 71.
Taking the two Ward 3 spots were Chris Vander Doelen with 1,032 and Steve Bjorkman, the incumbent for Ward 1, with 898. Rodney Hammond got 842 votes. Ward 4 incumbent Sherry Bondy held onto her seat with 843 votes, beating her opponent Paul Innes by 605.