Chris White has been re-elected mayor of Guelph-Eramosa, after his second landslide victory in a row over Clint Martin.
White received 67% of all votes in 2006, but increased his margin of victory to 79% (2,032 votes) on Monday night. Martin received just 547 votes (21%).
White was obviously happy with the outcome on Tuesday, including the margin of victory, and said he looks forward to improving the quality of life in the township.
“I’m very pleased with the results and very pleased with the council we’ve got,” White said.
Martin relayed he is not at all surprised by the results.
“People didn’t want to hear what was going on,” he said, alluding to his ongoing allegations of “theft” and “fraud” at the township. “It’s up to the authorities now.”
When told of White’s large margin of victory, Martin said “that’s okay,” and added, “It’s not over until the fat lady sings.”
Council candidate Corey Woods received 265 votes (59%), winning the ward 2 race handily over Nicholas Dalton, who won 118 votes (26%), and John Gough, who received 69 votes (15%).
“Obviously, I’m ecstatic,” Woods said on Monday night. He attributed his victory to his door-to-door campaigning, adding he still plans to visit the one or two percent of homes he did not have time to canvass.
“I’ve really enjoyed basically talking to my neighbours,” he said, adding he hopes to remain accessible as a councillor. He added, “I would like to see the council work together … to tackle all the township’s issues.”
In ward 3 incumbent Doug Breen also improved on his 2006 margin of victory (57%)over past councillor Teressa Gibson Smye.
Breen, who received 67% this time around (528 votes), as opposed to Gibson Smye’s 33% (257 votes), said he knows from experience it’s much better to be on the winning side after an election.
“You hope you’re doing a good job, and every four years [the people] tell you,” he said. “This one makes me feel like we’re on the right track … it’s almost a sign of trust.”
He added he has been “very impressed” with acclaimed ward 1 candidate David Wolk, as well as Woods, who has “done an awful lot of work to get himself ready for the job.”
Breen downplayed the problems of the current council, which some claim has been dysfunctional at times, though he admitted he is looking forward to the new group.
“We have five pretty passionate people,” he said. “I’m really excited about this council.”
Rounding out that group is incumbent John Scott (443 votes), who again defeated Steven Liebig (359) in ward 4. In keeping with the theme from the other races, Scott also increased his margin of victory – from just 15 votes in 2006 to 84 votes this time around.
