The Region of Queens new mayor plans to hit the ground running.<\/p>\n
Darlene Norman won the top job in the county by over 200 votes in Saturday\u2019s municipal election against her nearest rival, Susan MacLeod.<\/p>\n
Norman says she realizes there\u2019s a lot of people in the county she doesn\u2019t know and plans to get to work right away to remedy that.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy first goal is to knock on almost every door I can in this county and look them in the eye and say, I\u2019m Darlene Norman. I am your new mayor. Here is my card. If you ever have a question, please contact me,\u201d said Norman.<\/p>\n
During her campaign, Norman was critical of infighting between current councilors and staff.<\/p>\n
She intends to change the tone and foster cooperation amongst council members, regional staff and the community<\/p>\n
\u201cI do believe that there were some members, perhaps unwittingly, that paired up together and you can\u2019t do that as a council,\u201d said Norman. \u201cAs a council everybody needs to work as one and been seen as one working unit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Norman was complimentary of some of the work the outgoing council has done, particularly in expanding high-speed internet coverage, and collecting on a large amount of unpaid taxes to put the municipality on stronger economic footing.<\/p>\n
Norman defeated outgoing mayor David Dagley by close to 500 votes, a margin which, seemed to signify the desire for change on council.<\/p>\n
Only two sitting councillors will return to their seats: Kevin Muise will continue to represent district one and Jack Fancy will remain the councillor for district five.<\/p>\n
Sitting councillors Brian Fralic and Susan MacLeod gave up their seats in districts three and four, respectively, to challenge David Dagley for mayor.<\/p>\n
Replacing Fralic will be Maddie Charlton and Vicki Amirault takes McLeod\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n
Another pair of councillors lost their bid for re-election. Heather Kelly is turning over district two to Ralph Gidney while district seven will see Gil Johnson bow out to Carl Hawkes.<\/p>\n
New councillor David Brown won District six over Jason Croft after Raymond Fiske decided not to reoffer.<\/p>\n
Norman says she plans to speak with each of the new councillors ahead of their first session to hear their priorities.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do not have a set agenda. I simply want to hear what fellow council has to say and what they think,\u201d said Norman. \u201cAnd to understand what the people think, where they want to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Norman will be meeting with Mayor David Dagley, CAO Chris McNeill and Director of Finance Jennifer Keating-Hubley* over the next week to get the lay of the land and to select a day for the new council to be sworn-in.<\/p>\n