Rowe new mayor in Gibsons, Henderson wins in Sechelt

There are two new leaders in Gibsons and Sechelt for the next three years.

After serving four terms as Town of Gibsons Mayor, Barry Janyk went down to defeat in Saturday's municipal election and after serving one term as Mayor of Sechelt and several at the council table, Mayor Darren Inkster also went down to defeat.

Preliminary results released by the Town of Gibsons just before 10 p.m. showed Wayne Rowe as the new Gibsons Mayor with 1,124 votes, Janyk came second with 759 votes and Arthur Shaw third with 23 votes.

For council, Gerry Tretick was re-elected toping the polls with 989 votes, followed by LeeAnn Johnson re-elected with 954 votes, Charlene SanJenko third with 920 votes and Dan Bouman the fourth elected councilor with 877 votes.

Hammy McClymont was next with 845 votes, Brian Sadler with 731 votes, Bob Curry with 706 votes and Brian Hubenig with 471 votes.

"The win is just the beginning," said Rowe during his acceptance speech to a crowd of supporters in Gibsons Saturday night.

"This morning I sort of sat down in my office and I was going to write two speeches and I thought no, I'm just going to write one."

During his acceptance speech, Rowe addressed concerns that his campaign had been funded by overseas interests by saying his financial disclosure will lay to rest those claims.

"The only offshore one was Halfmoon Bay," he quipped.

Rowe said his first job as mayor will be to help identify the individual talents of the elected officials and how to best use them.

He predicted that worsening economic conditions may be in the future on the international stage, but said his interest lies with a rejuvenation of the harbour and Lower Gibsons.

Tretick agreed, describing the harbour as the economic jewel of Gibsons.

During this term Tretick hopes to continue on the path laid out by the Harbour Plan and add to it a vision for the water.

Tretick also addressed a highly charged, but divisive campaign by saying the new council will need to work to bring the community together under a banner of cooperation.

"When I first moved here the community, you could disagree on things, but still be friends," he said, describing what he called the intense emotion of the 2011 election campaign.

"People said things that I hope they regret, we should start building back to something that's more cohesive."

For SanJenko, optimism is high at the prospect of having an active and engaged electorate.

"This is just the beginning," she said, adding that her desire for change was what led her to run for a seat on council. "The community agrees with what I've been craving."

She said she'll be looking forward to increasing the level of public engagement between residents of Gibsons and their town's government.

One prospect for the future SanJenko has her eye on is having an established community outreach figure within the town organization to help foster a more engaging relationship with residents.

"It's great that people got involved with this election, so let's keeping that going," she said.

In Sechelt, preliminary results released by the District of Sechelt around 10:30 p.m. saw Henderson elected with 1,503 votes, followed by Inkster with 908 votes, Douglas Smith third with 724 votes and Ed Steeves fourth with 406 votes.

Sechelt's council is virtually brand new as three of the four incumbent councillors went down in defeat.

Tom Lamb topped the polls with 2,239 votes, second was Doug Hockley with 1,777 votes, third was Chris Moore with 1,718 votes, fourth was Mike Shanks with 1,481 votes, fifth was incumbent Alice Lutes with 1,478 votes, and sixth was Darnelda Siegers with 1,456 votes.

Rounding out the council votes were Norm Blair with 1,192 votes, Stan Dixon with 1,150 votes, Anita Paulin with 1,093 votes, incumbent Warren Allan with 898 votes, incumbent Alice Janisch with 841 votes, incumbent Keith Thirkell with 833 votes, Mary Bittroff with 809 votes and Terry Karkabe with 509 votes.

Supporters were lifting glasses, shaking hands and eating caviar at Buccaneer restaurant in Sechelt after Henderson was unofficially named the new mayor of Sechelt at about 10:30 p.m.

Henderson spent the night at home waiting for the results to come in, but once he felt assured of the win he left his quiet house for the roar of a supportive crowd.

"It feels great," Henderson said, stepping away from the enthusiastic group that gathered.

"It's really humbling to see the support that we got. I think there's such a change in the whole sort of 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."

One of the things Henderson says he will act upon is the overwhelming support shown for Target Marine Hatcheries' rezoning application to enable them to harvest sturgeon for caviar on site. The non-binding referendum vote showed 2,687 people in favour of the operation, with 663 opposed.

"The vote doesn't surprise me. I think that over the campaign there has been a hugely positive mood around Target. I think when people did the homework and went on the tours, when they saw what was going on I think they really understood that Target is going to be such an important contributor to us, to our community," Henderson said.

"When they finally publish the magazine that shows they have the best caviar in the world, that's really going to help us to sell Sechelt as the great town that it is."

Henderson plans to get to work fulfilling his campaign promises once he is sworn in as the new mayor of Sechelt.

"There are the obvious things. We've got to get on with approving Target. Certainly the community has given us strong support for that. We've got to get going on the sewer treatment plant and we've got to get on with bringing Sechelt's positive can do attitude back," Henderson said.

"I think this is a big step. I think we've got a real strong indication from the community that they want to see decisions made, they want to see action and so we'll get on with it."

For School District No. 46 (SD46) trustee in Sechelt where two trustees were elected, they included Christine Younghusband with 1,531 votes and incumbent Dave Mewhort re-elected with 1,503 votes.

Rounding out the trustee totals in Sechelt were Erin Brooks-Wilson with 1,027 votes, Lennea Perpet with 936 votes and Erin Lane with 565 votes.

For the District of Sechelt the non-binding referendum on Target Marine saw 2,687 voters saying yes with 663 voters saying no.

For SD46 trustee in Gibsons, Silas White won with 1,074 votes followed by Fran Heppell with 660 votes.

For SD46 trustee in Area 2 where three trustees were elected, Greg Russell was re-elected with 1,034 votes, followed by Betty Baxter with 830 votes, and Lori Dixon with 816 votes.

Rounding out the totals were Jason Scott with 670 votes, Claudia Ferris with 661 votes, Larry Koopman with 648 votes and Diane Hill with 444 votes.

The Sunshine Coast Regional District saw Garry Nohr re-elected in Area B (Halfmoon Bay) with 416 votes followed by Roger Lagasse with 194 votes, Area A (Pender Harbour/Egmont), Frank Mauro was elected with 479 votes followed by Mike Carson with 329 votes, in Area D (Roberts Creek), Donna Shugar was re-elected with 599 votes, Barbara Hague was second with 167 votes while Hans Penner was third with 142 votes and in Area E (Elphinstone), Lorne Lewis was re-elected with 570 votes followed by Laura Wallace with 141 votes.

For Gambier Island Local Trust Area, Jan Hagedorn and Katie-Louise Stamford were elected with 136 and 126 votes respectively. Bruce Bingham was next with 108 votes, followed by Lynn Leboe with 90 votes and Joyce Clegg with 37 votes.

Check out Coast Reporter on-line and in print on Friday, Nov. 25 for more election coverage including a full results break down and more interviews from the winning and losing candidates.