It’s hard to beat an incumbent, but two councillors-elect who pulled it off believe the change will be good for the city.
Election night was a tense time for Beacon-Hill Cyrville Ward councillor-elect Tim Tierney, who topped five-term councillor Michel Bellemare by 181 votes.
Councillor-elect for Rideau-Vanier Mathieu Fleury beat incumbent Georges Bedard by less than a percentage point, or 88 votes.
“We knew it would be close, but we were confident because we worked hard,” said Fleury.
“I’m going to listen and try to represent residents best I can.”
Fleury wants to see council come together as a team and highlight the issues in his ward.
One of the first orders of business for Tierney “will be to give more representation” in Beacon Hill-Cyrville, he said. “That’s something that’s been lacking.”
Keith Egli, who won the council seat vacated by Gord Hunter in Knoxdale-Merivale, said campaigning in a ward without an incumbent is “difficult because you have to stand out from the pack.”
