Several new faces will be sitting around town council chambers next month.
Tantramar electors voted in a mix of old with the new during Monday’s municipal election – with incumbents Josh Goguen, Allison Butcher and Barry Hicks retaining their seats, and newcomers Tori Weldon, Haidee Robertson, Alyssa Greene, Kristen LeBlanc and Wayne Wells rounding out the group.
The new Tantramar council will be led by Debbie Wiggins-Colwell, who beat her closest mayoral competitor by more than 600 votes. Wiggins-Colwell, who most recently served as deputy mayor on Tantramar council and also as Dorchester mayor prior to amalgamation, earned 1582 votes, Sabine Dietz had 910 and Terry Jones 378.
In a ward-by-ward breakdown:
Ward 1 (Dorchester and area) saw Alyssa Greene, with 128 votes, defeat her closest competitor Jason Holmes by only 4 votes, while Katelyn Olive earned 68 votes.
In Ward 2 (Westcock, Rockport, Johnson’s Mills), incumbent Barry Hicks received 165 votes, defeating Kenneth Hicks by only eight votes.
In Ward 3 (Sackville and area), newcomer to politics Tori Weldon earned the most votes with 1167, while Josh Goguen, Haidee Robertson and Allison Butcher earned 866, 864, and 845 respectively. Incumbents Andrew Black, Bruce Phinney and Michael Tower, as well as newcomer James MacDonald, went down to defeat in a fairly tight race.
In Ward 4 (Midgic and Cookville), Kristen LeBlanc was elected by acclamation.
In Ward 5 (Aulac, Point de Bute, Jolicure), Wayne Wells earned 93 votes and defeated K.C. Hingley, who had 66 votes.
