Who’s who around the horseshoe

Kingstonians have spoken, and our new city council has been formed – despite some technical issues and an overall low voter turnout.

The 34,529 people that did cast ballots voted overwhelmingly to have Bryan Paterson donning the mayoral collar once again. Paterson took just over 69 per cent of the votes for mayor, and won a whopping 16,163 more votes than his closest competitor, Vicki Schmolka, who walked away with just under 22 per cent of the votes for mayor.

And while there’s been some shuffling around the horseshoe, the vast majority of Kingston City Council will remain the same. In fact, all but four of those men and women on council also served the 2014 to 2018 term – and that’s no surprise, as the three new councillors are representing districts where the incumbents had stepped aside.

Going district by district, the votes came in as follows:

Countryside District saw incumbent Gary Oosterhof take the very close race with 41.64 per cent of the votes, only 91 votes more than his closest competitor, Louis Cyr.

Loyalist-Cataraqui District had a clear winner, with newcomer Simon Chapelle taking 49.75 per cent of the votes. Chapelle has 666 more votes than Bittu George, closest competitor and former city councillor.

Incumbent Lisa Osanic took Collins-Bayridge District with 67.91 per cent of the votes in that district. Osanic, who has served on city council since 2006, had 1,225 more votes than her only competitor, Don Amos.

In Lakeside District, which had six candidates running initially until Ed Smith dropped out earlier this month, Wayne Hill had a clear win with 52.01 per cent of the votes for that district. With incumbent Laura Turner choosing not to run again, Hill had 1,367 more votes than his closest competitor, Chris Morris.

Another district that saw its former representative, Liz Schell, resign from council prior to the election, Portsmouth District also had a clear winner. Bridget Doherty took 54.69 per cent of the votes in the district, and had 826 more votes than Chris Ball, her closest competitor.

The last district to bring new blood to council chambers, Trillium District saw a tight race after previous representative Adam Candon announced he was not running for council again. There, Robert Kiley won the seat around the horseshoe with 42.49 per cent of the votes, 259 votes ahead of his closest competitor Jimmy Hassan.

Kingscourt Rideau District re-elected incumbent Mary Rita Holland, who took 45.2 per cent of the votes and 319 more votes than Cheryl-anne Dorey Bennett, her next closest competitor.

Incumbent Jeff McLaren was re-elected to represent Meadowbrook-Strathcona District, where he took the clear win with 62.38 per cent of the votes. McLaren received 765 more votes than his only opponent, Taylor Pearce.

In Williamsville District, long-serving councillor Jim Neill was re-elected with 50.98 percent of the votes, a 190-vote advantage over Vincent Cinanni, his next closest competitor.

Councillor Peter Stroud will return to City Hall to represent Sydenham District, where he took 64.57 per cent of the vote. Stroud received 761 votes more than Dylan Chenier, who came in second in the race between four candidates.

First elected in 2006, Rob Hutchison will continue to represent King’s Town District where he received the most obvious support of his district of anyone running. Hutchison took 80.43 per cent of the votes, beating out his only opponent, Byron Emmons, by 1,514 votes.

And, as no surprise whatsoever, Pittsburgh District will once again see Ryan Boehme take his seat as councillor, as he was acclaimed when no one ran against him.

Notably, Lakeside District had the most people casting ballots: 3,765 people voted for the council representative in that district. Sydenham District had the least voters with 1,767, but it should be noted that Sydenham also has the smallest population of any of Kingston’s electoral districts.

Nearly 4,000 people voted for mayor, but didn’t vote for a councillor. And, sadly, a number of votes for councillor were wasted when 154 people voted for representatives that had already dropped out of the race (Ed Smith received 58 votes in Lakeside, and Alexandra de Haas received 96 in Portsmouth).

And just like that, we have a new city council. Here’s to the next four years, Kingston!