Newly elected Shawville Mayor Bill McCleary said that waking up as the new representative of his community was a strange feeling.

McCleary had served on council for the majority of the past eight years and narrowly lost the mayoral race in 2017, coming up 16 votes short of outgoing Mayor Sandra Murray. Following Murray’s sudden withdrawal from this year’s race, McCleary was matched up against another outgoing councillor, Patti Moffatt.

He said that he put more effort into his election campaign this year and estimated that he knocked on 65 per cent of the town’s doors.

He said that speeding in town was top of mind for many residents, and that he and the rest of council would be looking at options when they met for the first time. He concluded by thanking voters and committed to working hard to make sure they’re happy with their choice.

The full interview with McCleary is available below

Shawville council results

Mayor: Bill William McCleary (Outgoing councillor) - 401 votes (54.48 per cent)

Patti Moffatt (Outgoing councillor) - 335 votes (45.52 per cent)

Councillor (1) : Julien Gagnon - 387 votes (52.37 per cent)
Keith Harris 352 votes (47.63%)

Councillor (2) : Denzil Yach - 491 votes (67.08 per cent)
Stephane Landry 241 votes (32.92 per cent)

Councillor (3) : Brent Leach - 331 votes (45.78 per cent) 
Carolann Barton - 197 votes (27.25 per cent)
Kerry Reasbeck - 195 votes (26.97 per cent)

Councillor (4) : Richard Armitage - 628 votes (86.15 per cent)
Donna Andrew - 101 votes (13.85 per cent)

Councillor (5) : Bill Hobbs Elected by acclamation

Councillor (6) : Katie Sharpe - 376 votes (51.44 per cent)
Bonney Harris - 355 votes (48.56%)

Registered voters - 1,323
Number of valid votes - 736
Votes rejected - 7 
Participation rate - 56.2 per cent

Listen to the full CHIP story below: