It took a long time to find out, but Rosslanders have a new city council.
Returning officers spent more than four hours counting the 1,200 ballots cast for six councillors, a school trustee and a referendum on sewer ownership in Rossland.
But in the end, a new group of six councillors will join Mayor Kathy Moore, who was unopposed in her bid for a second term.
Incumbent Andy Morel gathered the top number of votes, at 764. He was followed by Janice Nightingale (736), Chris Bowman (691), Dirk Lewis (590), Stewart Spooner (587), and Scott Forsyth (557). The two other incumbents running, John Greene and Andrew Zwicker, did not receive enough votes to return to council. Zwicker had asked residents not to vote for him, as he would not run if elected due to job commitments. Still, he got 102 votes, the lowest in the rankings.
The results for the defeated councillors are as follows: Richard Soltice (472), John Lake (464), John Green (457), Deke Baley (420), Fletcher Quince (365), Caroline Enns (329), and Andrew Zwicker (102)
In the school board race, voters returned incumbent Gord Smith to the Area 5 trustee seat representing Rossland on the Kootenay-Columbia School District. He defeated Desiree Profili, 713-451.
There was no information available at publication time about the results of a referendum over ownership of the regional sewer line. Voters were being asked if they approved a plan to transfer the maintenance and ownership of portions of the regionally-shared sewer system to the cities of Rossland and Trail.
In all, 1,237 of 2,704 eligible voters cast ballots.
In Trail, voters made history last night. They voted Lisa Pasin in as the new mayor with 1,487 ballots cast in her favour, making her the first female mayor of that city.
