Voters in the County of Brant returned David Bailey for a second term as mayor.
The incumbent had a solid lead over contenders Shawn Pratt and David Swanson when the first of 20 polls reported.
That lead didn’t pale throughout the evening as Bailey finished with 5,964 votes, compared to 1,471 for Swanson and 802 for Pratt.
Joined by family, friends and supporters at The Dragon restaurant in downtown St. George, Bailey watched polling numbers come in throughout the evening.
“I’m very grateful obviously,” he said after all 20 polls had reported in shortly after 9 pm “I knew that if people were paying attention, they would have seen what I have done in the last four years. The fact that none of my councilors ran against me, and no one rushed away from the table, everyone was liking the way council was going. We were getting things done. We were being very financially on track, and taxes didn’t go up very much.”
Bailey said it’s a great honor to be re-elected to a job he loves doing, and is a perfect fit at this time in his life.
Asked about his priorities after the new county council is sworn in next month, he cited a need for a tri-council meeting with the City of Brantford and Six Nations.
“We need to get together and fix things up,” said the mayor-elect. “We are all too close together to not be getting along. If we’re going to start talking about bridges, roads, and going through each other’s areas, then we need to have cooperation.”
Bailey noted that the new Paris library and a new community center in Glen Morris would be the last of the big builds in the county for a while.
“Then we can make sure that we stay ahead of development. We can’t stop development because it’s all provincially motivated and directed, but we can certainly make sure that it’s being done properly.”
Mayoral candidate David Swanson finished in second place, garnering 1,471 votes.
“Obviously not the result that I wanted, but I’m a bit surprised at the low (vote) turnout,” said Swanson on Monday evening. “It’s tough to unseat an incumbent. I think that from a zero-to-second place, I am happy with that. I think I surprised a lot of people.”
Swanson said that a lot of the early votes cast were unfortunate because they took place prior to the debates.
“Some people voted without really getting to meet the candidates,” he noted. “By the end of it I was recognized on the streets in Paris. The word got out there, but we didn’t walk away with a W.”
Swanson said he was happy with the response he received while knocking on doors, especially in St. George where he said 70 per cent of his lawn signs were placed.
“Getting 1,471 votes was certainly an accomplishment, and I’ll see what that means in the future,” he shared. “I think if I was going to be a one-trick pony I wouldn’t have resonated that well.
“I gave it my best effort, and the team came together, but it just wasn’t enough. But the sun is going to rise tomorrow.”
Shawn Pratt, making his fifth bid for the mayor’s job, finished third with 802 votes.
He did not return calls from The Expositor to comment on the election results.
Joining Bailey at the council table are:
– Ward 1: John MacAlpine and Jennifer Kyle
– Ward 2: Steve Howes and Lukas Oakley
– Ward 3: John Pierce and John Bell
– Ward 4: Robert Chambers and David Miller (both acclaimed)
– Ward 5: Christine Garneau and Brian Coleman