After scoring one of the biggest political landslides in Haliburton County history during the municipal election, new Dysart et al mayor Greg Bishop said “the real work starts now” as he casts his eye on issues around amalgamation, aging infrastructure, and outdated bureaucracy.
Bishop earned a mammoth 87 per cent of the mayoral vote, securing 4,506 ballots. His contender, local business owner Andrew Nowell, secured 649 votes, good enough for 13 per cent.
“I’m feeling absolutely great about the result,” Bishop told The Highlander during a celebration at the Haliburton Curling Club. He sensed he’d receive a strong mandate from the community, especially once Pat Casey dropped out of the mayoral race. “I went around and got 40 signatures before I started, and I felt the people signing seemed to be more excited than I was.”
He believes recognition of the Bishop name, and his 40 years of experience in planning and surveying, made a difference. “There’s a level of trust there,” he said.
Once he’s officially sworn in next month, Bishop said his top priority will be revisiting several of the township’s bylaw files and compiling a list of the most urgent infrastructure needs.
“We have to look, overall, at our infrastructure and assets and try to do our best to get them under control and do the best for Dysart,” Bishop said.
He committed to hosting community town halls so the public can be part of those discussions. The mayor-elect also wants to engage Nowell and ensure he remains inpolitics, despite not being elected.
“He’s got some ideas and I like them… he’s got experience and there are things from his past that can help us communitywide,” Bishop said.
Nowell told The Highlander he plans to get more involved despite coming up short, saying, “I look forward to helping in any way I can.”
There will be experience backing Bishop, with McKechnie re-elected over Casey.
“I’m tremendously honoured that the people supported me again… I had a lot of people helping me out, but I did a lot of door-knocking, travelled all over Dysart and listened to the issues and concerns,” McKechnie said. “My job now is taking what I’ve heard and doing my best to improve things and make things a little easier for people.”
There is a mix of fresh and returning faces – Deb Lambe won in her inaugural run, taking Ward 1 with 366 votes (Rob McCaig had 333 and Danny Roberts 251); Mike Waller was elected in Ward 2 over Rob Parish, 807 votes to 689; with Marianne Schlottke taking Ward 3, where she got 270 votes (Tammy Donaldson had 175 and Geoff Webber 111).
Incumbent Carm Sawyer earned a landslide victory in Ward 4, defeating Esther Sipe 930 votes to 226, while Barry Boice held off Kirby Bagg for re-election in Ward 5, winning 536 votes to 436.
