UPDATE: 10:25 p.m.
Three incumbents were knocked out by fresh faces in a council shake up when the election results came in almost an hour and a half after the polls closed.
Rosalind Neis, former councillor and the first mayor of West Kelowna in 2007, Bryden Winsby, and Rusty Ensign will not be returning to their seats for another term.
Former mayor, Doug Findlater will serve a term on council alongside incumbents Rick de Jong and Carol Zanon.
Gord Milsom, will be leading the West Kelowna Council for the next four years as mayor after sitting on the first council in 2007 until 2014.
“I feel terrific, really excited to be the new mayor of West Kelowna and I think we have a strong council,” said Mislom. “We have three new councillors, we have three incumbents with a lot of experience. I think we are really going to come together as a team and do great things.”
Milsom began his campaign 16 months ago, meeting with mayors of other municipalities and attended several West Kelowna City Council meetings.
Jayson Zilkie, new council member heard the news while having dinner with his wife, Erin.
“The reason why I ran in the first place was I felt there was a need for a change in the city. We need fresh innovative ideas and I think I can bring that to the table, I am proud to say that’s why am I here,” said Zilkie.
Stephen Johnston, who ran for West Kelowna mayor in 2014, will also have a seat on council.
“I feel great,” said Johnston. “I thought coming into it that people wanted change and now you can see there is going to be a real nice breath of fresh air here. I am happy to see that there is an existing group here too and it’s going to be something really wonderful,” said Johnston.
Jason Friesen will also join council during their first meeting Nov. 27.
8p.m.
Gord Milsom will be West Kelowna’s next mayor.
There will be some new faces on council this time around — Stephen Johnston, Jayson Zilkie, Rick de Jong, Doug Findlater, Carol Zanon and Jason Friesen will make up the new council .
Chantelle Desrosiers was elected school trustee.
A total of 7,585 ballots were cast. With an estimated 24,520 eligible voters, this indicates a voter turnout of 29.13% Preliminary poll tallies indicating vote counts are available at www.westkelownacity.ca/election.
Declaration of Official results will occur at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, October 24 in Council Chambers, West Kelowna Municipal Hall, 2760 Cameron Road, West Kelowna, BC.
8 p.m.
At the Shannon Lake golf clubhouse almost 200 people have gathered to support Gordon Milsom to watch election results.
There are two mayoral candidates in the race, Milsom and Mandarino. Seventeen council candidates are in the mix.
ORIGINAL OCT. 20 6 a.m.
Voters across British Columbia head to the polls on Saturday to choose a mayor, council and other leaders in local government.
Polls are open in West Kelowna at the following locations until 8 p.m. at the Westbank Lions Community Centre.
Who is running for mayor?
Who is running for council?
Rick de Jong (incumbent)
Brad Dobbin
Rusty Ensign (i)
Gerry Evans
Doug Findlater (i)
Rosalind Neis (i)
Tiffany Paré
Bryden Winsby (i)
Carol Zanon (i)
For all of our stories on the municipal election, click here.
To vote in the election as a resident elector, you must meet the following eligibility requirements:
• Have not voted before in this election; and
• Be a Canadian citizen; and
• Be 18 years of age or older
• Have been a resident of British Columbia for at least the last six months
• Have been a resident of the municipality for at least the last 30 days
• Not disqualified by the Local Government Act or any other enactment from voting in an election and am not otherwise disqualified by law
To vote in the election as a non-resident elector you must meet the following eligibility requirements:
• Have not voted before in this election; and
• Be a Canadian citizen; and
• Be 18 years of age or older
• Have been a resident of British Columbia for at least the last 6 months
• Have been a registered owner of real property in Kelowna for at least the last 30 days
• Not hold the property in trust for a corporation or any other trust
• Not be entitled to register as a resident elector in Kelowna; and
• Not be registered as a non-resident (property) elector in relation to any other parcel of real property in the municipality
• If applicable, have received the written consent of the majority of individuals registered as owners of the real property to be registered as the non-resident (property) elector for the property
• Not be disqualified by the Local Government Act or any other enactment from voting in an election and am not otherwise disqualified by law
For more information about voting in the 2018 civic election in Kelowna, go to kelowna.ca/election.
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