Everett Baker has won a second term as mayor of Grand Forks.
He defeated former Castlegar mayor Kirk Duff by a vote of 724 to 576.
The councillors will be incumbents David Mark, Rod Zielinski, Zak Eburne-Stoodley, and Neil Krog, joined by newcomers Shaun Aquiline and Nicole Best. Missing the cut were Cameron O’Dell, Christina Abbott, Justin Dinsdale, and Kaja Gjesdal.
Turnout was 38 per cent, with 2,315 votes cast from 6,467 eligible voters.
Baker said he is “honoured and humbled” to have the community’s support, taking it as “recognition of the good work that we’ve been able to do over the past four years.”
The local funeral home director said while he is never overconfident, he had hoped that voters would appreciate the work the current council has done to improve the city’s infrastructure and keep the local emergency room open and the sawmill operating.
He said he suspected the incumbents would all win another term. “Based on the last four years, this council delivered for the community of Grand Forks and I was not surprised to see that they were all re-elected,” he said.
Baker, who served as a councillor from 2018-22 before being elected mayor, said he knows Aquiline and Best and looks forward to having “some fresh voices and new opinions” on council.
He said on the campaign trail, housing affordability came up as a priority, although he added that the outcome of the provincial election will help determine how that issue will be addressed.
Infrastructure upgrades were also raised, both in the city’s west end and downtown.
“Now that the flood mitigation is done, we can start concentrating on those kind of things,” he said. “Public safety is always another issue that comes up, although we’ve done a really good job in the last four years to minimize the encampments that sometimes causes concerns in the community.”
Baker said he is “prepared to roll up my sleeves and I’ll be back in my office on Monday morning.” He said once the new council is up to speed, they will start working on the next budget and strategic plan for the coming year.
“As always, I have an open door,” he said. “Those that maybe didn’t vote for me but want to share their thoughts, I’m always open.”
