The unofficial election results are in.
Mayor Tara Veer was re-elected with 16,581, votes with Sean Burke with 2,172 votes.
Elected to Red Deer City council is Michael Dawe with 12,229 votes, Tanya Handley with 9,658 votes, Dianne Wyntjes with 9,173 votes, Lawrence Lee with 8,784 votes, Buck Buchanan with 7,430 votes, Ken Johnston with 7,364 votes, Frank Wong with 6,284 votes and Vesna Higham with 6,283 votes.
Incumbent Lynne Mulder was not re-elected.
More than 2,600 Red Deerians took advantage of the advance vote and 20,247 citizens voted on Monday representing a 30% voter turnout.
Lee said he will be able to get some sleep tonight.
“I think being second term now I think I’m going to pursue really getting some of the work that I wanted to in the first term completed and worked on.”
He said that includes the community building aspect, community safety and moving the economic development of the City forward.
“I think this election of all the ones I’ve been in so far will show the most engagement of the community, the most turnout and I’m really proud of that being a Red Deerian myself. I think we can continue to keep making the city better day by day.”
Wyntjes said it’s always an exciting time when sitting around watching the votes coming in.
“It’s always a privilege and an honour to be selected as one of the councillors of all the 29 candidates that were running this election.”
She said when listening to the community as a council as a whole you have to think of the key issues which she said were crime and safety
“For me a lot of it when I look at the lists of our relationship with the province in terms of some of the advocacy issues so that means for me responding to the cannabis legislation, it’s about the courthouse progress as well as the hospital.”
She said one of the key issues for her is the treatment centre that the City needs so desperately.
Handley said it’s an honour seeing she has some support in the community.
“We absolutely need to address crime and safety in our community. That’s what we’ve heard loud and clear from people in this campaign. I want to lend my voice to hospital advocacy for health care expansion in Central Alberta and always for me I look at trying to keep taxes low.”
Newcomer Dawe said it is an honour to be elected to Red Deer City council.
“I’m deeply humbled and I just feel a tremendous gratitude to the support I got from the community, but also to all my volunteers who helped me and how hard they really worked to make tonight possible,” he said.
Higham agreed.
“It feels absolutely terrific. I am totally humbled and so grateful to the residents of this City for the trust they have placed in me by this wonderful mandate.”
Meanwhile, as for Red Deer Public School Trustee, elected are Bev Manning with 5,609 votes, Bill Stuebing with 5,008 votes, Dianne Macaulay with 4,724 votes, Nicole Buchanan with 4,596 votes, Bill Christie with 4,435 votes, Laurette Woodward with 4,137 votes and Cathy Peacocke with 4,124 votes.
Long-time Trustees Jim Watters and Dick Lemke were not re-elected.
For Red Deer Catholic School Trustee, elected are Adriana LaGrange with 3,716 votes, Anne Marie Watson with 3,597 votes, Murray Hollman with 3,230 votes, Kim Pasula with 2,852 votes and Cynthia Leyson wth 2,364 votes.
