The voters have spoken, and Grand Forks now has a new mayor and council composed of a mix of fresh faces and experienced councillors from years passed.
Only two of the four incumbent councillors running were re-elected. Mayor-elect Brian Taylor is a former mayor. Three of Grand Forks’ councillors-elect are new to Grand Forks council, while three (including the two incumbents) have served before.
The new City of Grand Forks mayor is:
Brian Taylor – 755
Everett Baker – 699
Gary Smith – 94
The new City of Grand Forks council is:
Rod Zielinski – 994
Neil Krog – 769
Chris Moslin –734
Zak Eburne-Stoodley – 715
Cathy Korolek – 683
Christine Thompson – 622
Chris Hammett – 588
Julia Butler – 554
Cher Wyers –534
Danna O’Donnell –494
Kyle Piper – 471
Stan Halluk – 359
Arnold Hoekstra – 241
There were 1,568 ballots cast in the City of Grand Forks. Based on 3,169 eligible voters, total turnout was 49.5 per cent.
However, Deputy Corporate Officer Kevin McKinnon said that in fact, the listed number of eligible voters could be high, as there are “a fair number” of voters on the list who may have moved away or died. McKinnon said that because the voter list is maintained manually, if people don’t ask the city to remove them, they will continue to be on the list. This is why the city rigorously checks two pieces of identification at the polls, McKinnon said, and there are no concerns about voter fraud.
However, to get a better idea of voter turnout, the city will be examining ways to keep a more accurate voters list in future. Some municipalities use the provincial voters list, which has the advantage of being maintained by the province; however the downside is that it is often only current to the provincial election and people will still need to be added and removed.
The mayor-elect and councillors-elect will be sworn in on Nov. 9.
The new Area D School District 51 trustee is:
Bronwen Bird –163
Valerie Rich – 115
Terry Strohmann – 103
The results are currently unofficial, and are expected to be declared official on Wednesday.