Re-elected Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj was already planning her first moves for the new township council on Monday night after learning she was returned to office with the most votes ever here for a mayoralty candidate.
Ross-Zuj collected 5,505 to 2,962 for rival Robert Foster. She received 65% of the total vote.
“I enjoy working very hard for this community, and I will be thrilled to do so,” she said, adding that she hopes to meet soon with her new council.
She said the first order of business will be to meet with the new council and then to review the strategic plans for all the departments “to see what route we will take.”
Ross-Zuj said the large margin of victory left her feeling good.
“I feel a bit of confidence,” she said, adding that the voters found it “obvious how we leveraged the money we had.”
Foster was did not return several calls from the Advertiser by press time. Many of his election signs were already down by Tuesday morning.
There will be three new faces at the council chamber, but three incumbents were returned handily against a group of candidates running as a slate with Foster.
In Ward 2, Kirk McElwain handily defeated Eric Van Grootheest, with 72 per cent of the votes.
In Ward 4, Fred Morris was returned with 64 per cent.
In Ward 5, Walt Visser was re-elected with 60 per cent of the total ballots cast.
In Ward 1, two newcomers squared off, with Kelly Linton defeating Ian Rice.
In Ward 3, Mary Lloyd took 52 per cent of the total votes cast to handily defeat Frederick de Vries, Vinnie Green, and Jeremy Vink.
In Ward 6, Steven VanLeeuwen prevailed over Mike Wisniewski, taking 56 per cent of the vote.
