Heidi Lorenz will lead a Gravenhurst council where seven of the nine seats around the table will be filled by women.
Kayla Thibeault, Director of Legislative Services and Clerk, says 4,933 votes were cast, which amounts to a 32.8 percent voter turnout. She certified the results as of 11:07 AM Tuesday.
“I’m really excited,” she says about unofficially being elected mayor. “It’s going to be a different perspective.”
Lorenz received 2,155 votes and was followed by Terry Pilger with 1,937 votes and Marc Mantha with 809 votes.
“I’ve always said I’m very optimistic about Gravenhurst,” Lorenz says. “I don’t think we need to change too much here. It’s a great place, we have a great community.”
Sandy Cairns will return as one of Gravenhurst’s three representatives at the District of Muskoka while Penny Varney will continue to represent Ward 1. Jo Morphy was acclaimed for another term as councillor for Ward 2.
Meanwhile, Erin Strength and Peter M. Johnston are the two other district representatives, Michelle Robinson will be the councillor for Ward 3, Randy Jorgensen will represent Ward 4, and Christina Hunter will be Ward 5’s councillor.
Lorenz credits previous Gravenhurst Mayors Paisley Donaldson and Paul Kelly with mentoring her. “I’ve learned a lot from both of them but I want to carve my own path,” she says.
The first order of business for her is to sit down with council, both new and returning, and learn about their priorities. Lorenz says she is looking forward to those conversations. “I hope we can all agree to move forward in a positive way,” she adds.