Yake defeats Cork for seat on county council

WELLINGTON COUNTY – Eight of nine Wellington County councillors will be back at the council table in Guelph next month.

Seven current councillors were acclaimed and there were only two ward races on Oct. 26.

One was won by upper-tier newcomer Dan Yake in Ward 3 and the other by incumbent Stephen O’Neil in Ward 4.

Ward3

In Ward 3, which includes north/west Wellington North, challenger Dan Yake garnered 1,303 votes to narrowly defeat incumbent councillor Campbell Cork (1,280).

"Im feeling good. I'm glad it's over ... and that I pulled it off – barely," Yake said the morning after the election.

He noted that during the campaign, it was "almost unbelievable" how "misinformed" some voters were about the responsibilities of the upper-tier level of municipal government.

"I really tried to focus on trying to make people aware of what the county level of government does for them," said Yake, a former Wellington North councillor for over two decades who lost the township mayoral race to Andy Lennox in 2022.

He added he will continue to focus on educating residents this term of county council, and also closely monitor a number of other issues, including growth and solid waste services.

Cork was not immediately available for comment.

Ward 4

In Ward 4, which covers southeast Wellington North and north Centre Wellington, incumbent Stephen O’Neil (1,911 votes) defeated Allan Tota (357).

"I'm happy to be re-elected and I'm looking forward to the next term of council," O'Neil said on Tuesday morning.

He told the Advertiser he's looking forward to helping execute the county's $63.5-million plan to build eight new land ambulance stations across the county over the next 12 to 15 years.

"It's a big step forward," he said of the plan, noting he hopes to see progress over the next term of council.

Asked what resonated with voters this time around, O'Neil said he's not sure, but he noted the number one issue he heard about on the campaign trail is the proposed Geranium Homes development between Fergus and Belwood.

A distant second was the proposed data centre in Fergus, he added.

Acclamations

The other seven Wellington County councillors are acclaimed, including:

• David Anderson, Ward 1 (Minto);
• Earl Campbell, Ward 2 (Mapleton);
• Mary Lloyd, Ward 5 (west portion of Centre Wellington);
• Diane Ballantyne, Ward 6 (southeast portion of Centre Wellington);
• Matthew Bulmer, Ward 7 (Puslinch and west Guelph/Eramosa);
• Doug Breen, Ward 8 (east Guelph/Eramosa); and
• Jeff Duncan, Ward 9.

The mayors of each lower-tier municipality also sit on county council, which has 16 members.