Natasha Salonen becomes Wilmot Township's 1st woman mayor, set to lead entirely new council
Whole new council elected in township as two incumbents weren't re-elected
Wilmot Township elected its first female mayor in Monday's municipal election.
She will lead an entirely new council as no incumbent politicians were re-elected.
Voting results show Natasha Salonen was elected mayor of Wilmot Township, making her the first woman to lead the municipality in 133 years. The results of the election are unofficial until verified by the township's clerk.
Results show Salonen had 4,254 votes compared to Coun. Jennifer Pfenning, who received 2,694 votes. Salonen and Pfenning were the only candidates seeking the mayoral seat.
"I think I resonated with a lot of people with wanting to get back to what's under municipal jurisdiction," said Salonen in an interview Monday night with CBC News.
"With two candidates [for mayor] it was either more of what they'd already seen on council or something new, and a change with fresh new ideas," said Salonen. "I believe the community is looking for some change out here."
Salonen said one of her priorities, once she gets situated in her new job, will be to improve communication between the township and the community.
"Even today I still had people reach out unaware that they couldn't vote in person. So, working on lines of communication so that going forward any decision that we make is well communicated across the community and we can get strong input from all of our residents."
Current Mayor Les Armstrong did not seek re-election. Ward 3 Coun. Barry Fisher or Ward 4 Coun. Jeff Gerber also did not seek re-election.
The councillors elected Monday night were:
- Ward 1: Stewart Cressman was elected, beating incumbent Angie Hallman.
- Ward 2: Kris Wilkinson was elected, unseating incumbent Cheryl Gordijk.
- Ward 3: Harvir Sidhu was elected.
- Ward 4: Lillianne Dunstall and Steven Martin were elected.