Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion
Results have been announced after a byelection in the Town of Eatonia and voters in the community have elected Troy Becker to be the town’s new mayor.
The byelection was held on Oct. 24 and there were two candidates running for the position of mayor. The two candidates were Becker and Darlene Cogger. A total of 104 people got out to vote on election day or at the advance poll earlier in October.
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According to the town’s returning officer, Becker received 95 votes and Cogger received nine votes. There were no rejected or spoiled ballots. Becker was the town’s deputy mayor going into the byelection, so the town will have to hold another byelection to fill the vacancy on council.
Becker, who replaces former mayor Steve Schwartz, said he was just finishing his ninth year as a councillor. The mayor-elect said he is halfway through his third term on council and he will be sworn in as mayor at a future meeting.
He noted that he considered running for mayor in the 2016 general election after seven years as a councillor, but Schwartz submitted papers to run for mayor and Becker chose to run for councillor because he believed Schwartz would be a good fit for the position.
Schwartz was elected by acclamation in 2016. Becker said he gave more thought to the idea of running for mayor when Schwartz announced his resignation this past summer. He said he knew another candidate had submitted nomination papers, but he decided to give it a shot and it worked out in the end.
The mayor-elect said he knew that running for mayor in the middle of a four-year term would give him an opportunity to experience the position, and then see if he would like to run for re-election in November 2020.
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