Unofficial results: Jim Hegadorn re-elected Mayor of Loyalist Township

Jim Hegadorn has been re-elected as Mayor of Loyalist Township. The incumbent candidate had previously been in that job for six months, initially filling for previous Mayor Ric Bresee when he was elected Member of Provincial Parliament, and then formally appointed to the role via acclamation.

“I’m feeling very positive,” said Hegadorn immediately after the results came in. “We have a good team to move forward. And so I’m very excited about that. And I’ve got four more years of work to do at this point, and I look forward to taking that on and completing it.”

“It took a minute to process,” Hegadorn said of his reaction as results came in. “It was surprising the number (of votes) that I did get, but on the other hand that just means that people expect me to do a lot of work, and it’s very humbling for them to put that much trust in me.”

Hegadorn says he is hoping to build on the work of the past council and his previous six months as Mayor. “In that time, we’ve had a great number of successes. Some positive announcements with industry coming in. And it appears that a lot more successes are coming and so I wanted to stay on and work with staff, work with council and be able to bring them to fruition, the ones that are on their way, complete them.”

Hegadorn cites the announcements of several large new companies coming to the Township, as well as the expansion of existing companies in the area, as successes to build on. “The way I look at it is with Umicor and Latham Pools coming in, Direct Coil is expanding, Kiley Paving’s just expanded, we’ve got so many industries that have either moved into or are expanding in our area, I believe it’s time for the other avenues, the commercial development to come on board, we’ve already got strong housing industry in the area, so I just think that in the next four years we can really round out the Township, to basically serve the residents right here at home, with everything they need.”

“It looks like it’s going to be a great team,” Hegadorn said of the newly-elected Loyalist Township council. “We’ve got some fresh, new people on council that are going to bring some enthusiasm, new ideas, and we’ve got some seasoned (councillors), which know the ropes, and I think we can hit the ground running and really accomplish right from the start.”

Hegadorn says he is looking forward to continuing to work with Mayor Bryan Paterson, also re-elected in Kingston, saying he is approachable and “has been good to work with” on regional matters. Hegadorn is equally excited to continue to work with his Provincial and Federal counterparts, Member of Parliament (MP) for Hastings-Lennox & Addington Ric Bresee and Shelby Neuman-Kramp, Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) of Hastings-Lennox & Addington, and to build on their already strong working relationships.

Hegadorn is joined by Nathan Townend as Deputy Mayor, Lorna Willis as councillor for Ward 1, Carol Parks in Ward 2, and Mike Budarick, Jake Ennis and Paul Proderick in Ward 3.