Sechelt has a new leader.
John Henderson was voted mayor of Sechelt Nov. 19 with 1,503 votes compared to incumbent Darren Inkster's 908. Candidates Douglas Smith and Ed Steeves garnered 724 and 406 respectively.
"It feels great," Henderson said, stepping away from an enthusiastic group that gathered at Buccaneer Restaurant Saturday night to celebrate the win. "It's really humbling to see the support that we got. I think there's such a change in the whole tenor of Sechelt. I think that's what it really comes down to. It appears that the community has spoken very resoundingly that they want certain things to happen, and I am looking forward to helping with the new council to make those things happen."
He feels the new team of councillors he'll be leading will be just what Sechelt needs.
"It's a dream team. I think we've got a really good group of enthusiastic people. It's great to have newcomers and it's equally great to have recent experience with Alice and long experience with Mike. So we have a bit of everything. I think I couldn't ask for a better team."
He plans to get to work with his new team immediately after being sworn in on Dec. 7.
"We're going to get on with the things we talked about during the campaign. The citizens have clearly spoken about Target. They are very clear in the way they want Target to proceed, and certainly people on council, I think all of them, are strongly supportive, and it goes much beyond just approving Target," Henderson said.
"It's about confirming that Sechelt is receptive to professionally run business. It's about us starting to develop a winning attitude. The ability for us to say that we have the best caviar in the world is again a dream come true for us to sell the benefits of Sechelt to the world."
To the people who are concerned Henderson's council may be all business and no community, he assures there will be a balance.
"It's not about more and more business, it's about just being balanced about all the different parts of our great community. That's another part of our challenge. We've got to find ways to work with the whole community," Henderson said. "Clearly there are people who have different views.
"Whether it's something to do with zoning or something to do with the environment, that's going to be a challenge and we've got to do our best with all of those different interests."
He also said he realizes as mayor he may need to mend some divisions created during the campaign.
"I hope we can bring everybody together, because ultimately, we're all in this for what's the best for Sechelt. That won't fix it. Obviously it's not going to be one meeting and we'll all be good, but all we can do is start," he said.
"In the meantime, the good news from my point of view is the community has so clearly indicated what they want in terms of who they voted for and what they voted for, and I think we see that in many parts of the Coast."
Henderson thanked the incumbents for their years of service to Sechelt.
"I'm so appreciative of the incumbents. It is never an easy job being in public service. I think the incumbents have spent a lot of personal effort, given a tremendous amount of themselves, and I'm certainly grateful for what they have done."
