OLIVER PAIPOONGE — Voters in Oliver Paipoonge have returned Lucy Kloosterhuis to the mayor's chair.
Unofficial results released Monday evening just after 9 p.m. showed Kloosterhuis winning her sixth term with 905 votes.
Rick Potter finished in the runner-up position with 771 votes.
Brandon Postuma was close behind with 686.
In an interview, Kloosterhuis said she recognized that her two challengers received more votes combined than she did, so "there are those voters who are not happy for whatever reason."
In the coming term, she said, she encourages residents to come forward to express their concerns, so that "maybe we can work together to make things better."
Kloosterhuis said she expects the biggest looming challenge is how to cope with "the recession that's on the doorstep," but she expressed confidence that the council and the community will be able to overcome it.
She has served as a council member or mayor for 31 consecutive years.
Kloosterhuis said she was grateful for the voter turnout of over 40 per cent because it was the best turnout in years.
Oliver Paipoonge voters chose incumbents Bernie Kamphof and Allan Vis, along with poll-leader Donna Peacock and former councillor Dan Calvert as councillors.
