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MERRITT HERALD FREE
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
Neil Menard elected Merritt mayor Councillor wins mayoral race with over half of votes By Emily Wessel THE HERALD
newsroom@merrittherald.com
There’s been a shake-up in the makeup of Merritt’s city council. Neil Menard was elected the city’s mayor by a landslide, earning about 53 per cent of the votes. Menard’s 994 votes were followed by incumbent Susan Roline’s 522, and rounded out by 297 votes for Mike Jolly. Menard said his reaction to the unofficial result of the general election — announced at about 8:30 Saturday night — wasn’t one of shock because it was the result he’d been hoping for. “It was one of those things where you don’t know,” Menard said. “It’s very secretive. I worked hard and had a lot of people who did a lot for me, and I can’t say anything more than thank you to the whole community.” Menard said his first order of business after he’s sworn in as mayor is to get together with city councillors to discuss their goals. Menard was first elected as a city councillor in the February byelection. On council, half of the seats will be filled by returning councillors. Incumbents Kurt Christopherson (1,336 votes), Dave Baker (1,241 votes) and Mike Goetz (1,120 votes) were re-elected to represent the citizens of Merritt. They’ll be joined by newly-elected Diana Norgaard
(1,116 votes), Linda Brown (1,099) and Ginny Prowal (824 votes). “It’s going to be a different kind of council and I’m looking forward to it,” Christopherson said. “I think, probably, it’ll be a really good learning curve for everybody. We’ve got some incumbents and some new ones and I think it’ll be a really good blend.” Norgaard, whose mother Clara Norgaard served as Merritt’s mayor in the 1990s and recently as city councillor, said she has “huge shoes to fill.” “It feels great,” she said of being elected. “It’s a little bit of a shock but I’m really looking forward to all the hard work we’re going to be doing and I’m excited.” Norgaard also said she’s eager to sit down with the other councillors and talk about their strategy for the next four years. Newly-elected city councillor Ginny Prowal said her feeling was one of euphoria when the results were announced at the Civic Centre. Prowal, a regular fixture at city council meetings, said she is looking forward to experiencing city council from a new perspective. “I had a voice when I was in the gallery. I would speak up, and I want to see what it’s like on the other side of the table,” Prowal said. The pool of city council candidates was rounded out by Bruce McMurchy (765 votes) and Harry Kroeker (732 votes). A total of 1,856 ballots
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Mayor elect Neil Menard shakes hands with re-elected councillor Mike Goetz after the results of the municipal general election were announced Saturday evening at the Civic Centre.
were cast, according to the unofficial results, representing 34 per cent of the estimated 5,426 eligible voters in Merritt. That’s up slightly from the general municipal election in 2011, when 32 per cent of the estimated 5,300
eligible voters cast a ballot. On the school board, incumbents Tim Kroeker (1,212 votes) and Gordon Swan (988 votes) were re-elected, while the seat vacated by Richie Gage will be filled by Brian Jepsen (834 votes).
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Other challengers for a position on School District 58’s board of trustees, Everett Hoisington and Joyce Perrie, had 732 and 604 votes respectively. The rural school trustee seat representing TNRD areas M and N will be occu-
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pied by Gerald Ellingsen, who won with 89 votes. Incumbent David Laird pulled in 76 votes while Kowaintco Michel amassed 61. — With files from the Herald’s Michael Potestio
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