The 35th council for the Town of Saint Andrews has been sworn in following a lengthy delay due to a byelection.
Mayor Steve Neil, alongside Ward 1 Coun. Darrell Weare, Ward 2 Coun. Annette Harland, and Ward 3 Coun. Charlotte Bartlett, Coun. Kurt Gumushel, Coun. Lee Heenan and Coun. Scott Masson were all sworn in Monday night.
It is the last council to do so following the death of former acting mayor Kate Akagi in the spring, which forced Elections New Brunswick to cancel the Ward 3 election under the Municipal Elections Act.
Both Progressive Conservative MLA Kathy Bockus and Conservative MP John Williamson attended the ceremony.
Bockus encouraged the council to listen to the public throughout their time in office.
“Listen to the people,” she said. “The people you represent want to be heard. They want you to hear their concerns, their issues and their solutions.”
She said all levels of government must work together to accomplish the things our citizens want and need.
“Working together, we can achieve wonderful things,” she said.
Williamson congratulated the council on their electoral victory, but cautioned them on one of the town’s largest infrastructure projects.
The council will be faced with deciding the future of Market Wharf and Market Square and an overpriced tender was rejected last year.
Recently, three options were presented to the community for materials and engineered designs. Liberal Secretary of State Wayne Long encouraged the council to reapply for new infrastructure money.
“I urge you to first spend the money you have in front of you,” he said. “In my experience, with the federal government, if a project runs over, if you have to go back for additional funds, that can happen in [the] following phases, but in terms of money on the table, please take full advantage of that.”
He said he would help the council on the project.
“Phases also shows the federal government and other funding partners, like the province, that one good job means another good job is likely going to follow,” Williamson said.
Both chief administrative officer Chris Spear and clerk Chris MacKinnon addressed the council ahead of their four-year term.
“The citizens of Bayside, Chamcook and Saint Andrews have placed their confidence in you and with that confidence comes both honour and responsibility,” Spear said. “That is why municipal services matter so deeply. It is the government closest to home.”
He said that responsibility can be both a joy and a burden. While some decisions, he explained, may come easier, others require immense consultation and to choose a side on an issue that has divided the community.
MacKinnon spoke to the value of democracy.
“We get to live in a place where individuals, young, old, poor, middle class or wealthy, well-known or unknown, have a say in choosing a group of people into whose hands we place our well-being,” he said.
Following the swearing-in ceremony, Coun. Kurt Gumushel nominated fellow Coun. Annette Harland as deputy mayor for the new council.
“It is my great honour and privilege to nominate Coun. Annette Harland for the position of deputy mayor,” he said. “I’ve been sitting here, I think, the longest of anybody and there’s a lot of leadership at this table. A lot of people could fill that position and do a great job. However, I think that Coun. Harland is ideally suited to work with staff.”
The council unanimously voted to appoint Harland to be placed in the role of deputy mayor.
