Members of the seventh Quispamsis town council are now officially ready to get to work.
Mayor Libby O’Hara and the seven newly-elected councillors were sworn in during a Monday evening ceremony.
O’Hara was joined by her 96-year-old mother, Teresa Corbin, along with her daughter and granddaughter.
“I was really thrilled to have my family here and my friends and my granddaughter and my daughter and my mother. There were four generations standing there as I was having the chain of office placed upon my neck,” O’Hara said after the ceremony.
O’Hara, who defeated incumbent mayor Gary Clark, spent the past nine years as the town’s deputy mayor.
She said the biggest priority in her new role will be to provide leadership for the community and its residents.
“It’s different than being a councillor or being deputy mayor because I have to have a vision of where we’re moving forward,” said O’Hara.
“Yes, that’s going to be carved in a strategic plan that we’ve talked about for the past few months, but I do believe that that is going to be something that I’ll provide some leadership for.”
Here are the new members of council: Deputy Mayor Mary Schryer, Kerrie Luck, Mike Biggar and Noah Donovan, who’s the youngest councillor in the history of Quispamsis. pic.twitter.com/Pg8qG64jsM
— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) June 7, 2021
There are four new councillors around the table this term: Mary Schryer, Kerrie Luck, Mike Biggar and Noah Donovan.
Schryer, who was named deputy mayor Monday evening, is no stranger to residents. She served as MLA for Quispamsis from 2006 to 2010.
The former minister for the status of women said she is excited by the makeup of the new council, which consists of four women and four men.
“When I was the minister for the status of women, we were always promoting gender equality and balanced committees and getting to that 30 per cent and here we are in Quispamsis we’re at 50 per cent,” said Schryer.
Schryer said she wanted to get back into municipal politics because of its grassroots nature and the fact “you don’t have to toe a party line.”
Meanwhile, Donovan is the youngest councillor in the town’s history and is believed to be the youngest current municipal politician in New Brunswick.
“It is a little bit daunting but throughout my campaign, I’ve had a lot of young people reach out to me with their goal and their hopes and their ideas for the town of Quispamsis and that’s really inspired me to push forward and try my best to make sure Quispamsis remains the best place for everybody to live,” he said.
The 22-year-old said he is looking forward to working together with his council colleagues over the next four years.
Returning to the council table for another four years are Beth Thompson, Emil Olsen and Kirk Miller.
Returning for another four years around the council table are Beth Thompson, Emil Olsen and Kirk Miller. pic.twitter.com/vEKxYAewU5
— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) June 7, 2021
Follow
