Sechelt has a new mayor.
Darnelda Siegers clobbered incumbent mayor Bruce Milne Saturday in a landslide win for the two-term Sechelt councillor.
Siegers received 2,513 votes (60.4 per cent) compared to 1,111 for Milne (26.7 per cent) and 487 for Allan Holt (11.7 per cent).
Speaking at an after-election event at Buccaneers Restaurant, Siegers described her win as a “mandate from the community to move the community forward, to look to the future, plan for the future, so that our community as a whole can create the vision that we all know Sechelt can be.” The election outcome, she said, “signals a new era of collaboration” for Sechelt.
In Gibsons, former administrator Bill Beamish won by a commanding spread, receiving 1,347 votes – more than 75 per cent – compared to 200 for Blake MacLeod, 99 for Leslie Thomson and 86 for William Moysey.
Results from the council races were especially dramatic in Sechelt where all four incumbents went down to defeat.
Janice Kuester topped the polls for Sechelt councillor with 2,513 votes, matching Siegers’ total exactly. Kuester was followed by Brenda Rowe with 2,295 votes, Eric Scott with 2,042, Alton Toth with 1,989, Matt McLean with 1,773 and Tom Lamb securing the sixth seat on council with 1,622 votes.
The defeated candidates were incumbent Darren Inkster (1,524), Lennea Perpet (1,459), incumbent Alice Lutes (1,417), incumbent Doug Wright (1,416), incumbent Mike Shanks (1,366), Jacqueline Gillis (1,314) and Tony Lobb (829).
In the Gibsons council race, Aleria Ladwig finished first with 1,085 votes, followed by incumbent Stafford Lumley with 963 votes, David Croal with 907 and Annemarie De Andrade with 888.
Falling short of a council seat were Suzanne Senger with 811 votes, Carol Doyle with 803 and Verna Chan with 720. Angie August, who withdrew her nomination, was on the ballot and received 192 votes.
Speaking at the KinHut in Dougall Park to a crowd of about 50 people, including some newly elected councillors, Beamish said: “The one question that I will ask each candidate is what is their plan to build consensus in the community and to mend the rift that is apparent to me as I go door to door, read the newspapers or receive and respond to emails. To succeed in the long term we must work on this early and often in our own tenures.”
In the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) races for area director, Leonard Lee cruised to an easy win in Area A (Pender Harbour/Egmont), receiving 636 votes compared to 198 for Mike Price and 53 for Sandy Hegyi.
In Roberts Creek, Andreas Tize won the five-way race for director with 386 votes. Hans Penner finished second with 261 votes, followed by Kathrine Fuller with 215, Steve Baker with 94 and Barbara Hague with 93.
In Elphinstone, Donna McMahon soundly defeated four-term incumbent Lorne Lewis with 728 votes to Lewis’s 333.
In a more competitive race in West Howe Sound, Mark Hiltz finished on top with 328 votes against Dave Brackett’s 234.
In the School District No. 46 Lower Coast area, where three trustee seats were up for grabs, Sue Girard (2,455), Stacia Leech (2,210) and incumbent Pammila Ruth (2,207) were elected, while Charlene Penner finished fourth with 1,799 votes.
In the race for the SBL1 seat on the Sechelt Indian Government District (SIGD) Advisory Council, Mary Adele Koyanagi defeated incumbent William Scotland, receiving 71 votes to Scotland’s 19.
Eleven candidates were acclaimed prior to the election:
• Lori Pratt for SCRD Area B director (Halfmoon Bay).
• Samantha Haines (Upper Coast) and Amanda Amaral, Maria Hampvent and Tonya Ste. Marie (Central Coast) for School District No. 46 Board of Education trustees.
• Rose Darland, John Miller, Douglas Stewart and Robert Werry as Sechelt Indian Government District Advisory Council members.
• Kate-Louise Stamford and Dan Rogers as Islands Trust trustees for the Gambier Island area.
A total of 45 candidates were vying for 20 contested positions in Saturday’s election.
