NORTH HURON – Paul Heffer will be the next Reeve of North Huron.
Heffer was one of three current council members seeking the reeve’s seat in the municipal election on Monday. Incumbent Bernie Bailey and current deputy reeve Trevor Seip, along with Ranko Markeljevic, were also in the reeve’s race.
Heffer won the seat with 810 votes (44.3 per cent), followed by Seip with 569 votes (31.1 per cent), Bailey with 410 votes (22.4 per cent) and Markeljevic with 38 votes (2.1 per cent).
“I feel very excited. I’m looking forward to the next four years,” Heffer told the Advance Times on Monday night.
“There’s going to be lots to do with the new council but we can do it and have lots of fun while moving our municipality forward.”
In the East Wawanosh Ward, where two councillors are elected, Chris Palmer and Anita Van Hittersum were both successful in their bids for re-election. Palmer received 286 votes (34.5 per cent) and Van Hittersum received 277 votes (33.4 per cent). Kelly Tiffin received 267 votes (32.2 per cent) to finish third in that race.
Six were in the running for Wingham Ward councillor, where two are elected.
Mitch Wright (820 votes, 41.1 per cent) and Lonnie Whitfield (527 votes, 26.4 per cent) captured the two council seats. Stacey Boyd finished third in the race with 451 votes (22.6 per cent), with Amy Schiestel (98 votes, 4.9 per cent) finishing a distant fourth. Stephen Hill (61 votes, 3.1 per cent) and Tanya Williams (40 votes, 2.0 per cent) finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
The Blyth Ward saw both council seats acclaimed, with Ric McBurney and Kevin Falconer both returning for another term.
The new council will be sworn in on Nov. 21.
School board trustee
Patricia Elaine Smith won the Avon Maitland District School Board trustee seat for North Huron, Morris-Turnberry and Howick in a landslide. She received 80.1 per cent of the votes in North Huron and 76.5 per cent of the vote in Morris-Turnberry. As of Tuesday morning, Howick had yet to report their results.
Voter turnout
Early reporting shows that voter turnout was down in North Huron this election compared to 2018.
Simply Voting, an independent company used by North Huron to tabulate the votes, reported 1,845 of an eligible 4,016 voters, or 45.9 per cent, cast a ballot in the election. In 2018, 1,948 of an eligible 3,852 voters, or 50.57 per cent, participated.
