Having been elected to represent Division 6 in Red Deer County, Christine Moore couldn’t be any happier about being a part of a council she’s long admired.
She feels her hard work campaigning over the past several weeks has paid off, after she was elected Monday night with 247 votes over Joe-Anne Matejka’s 88.
“I’m really, really happy and honoured,” she said. “When it’s your first time, you’re never sure. You just never know.”
Moore feels she’s been able to connect with residents of the division through her time campaigning, and wants to continue to do so now that she’s been elected.
“I really believe in working with people and listening,” she said. “We’ve got to engage people more — that’s what I’ve heard on the campaign trail, and my plan is to engage this division.”
Increased engagement doesn’t require an election, she feels.
“There’s so much that we can do because of the technology that we have, so I look forward to that, and I look forward to hearing what people want and what their vision is.”
Another aspect of being on council she’s excited about is working with Mayor Jim Wood, with whom she’s acquainted through her role as a member of Red Deer College’s board of governors.
“I think he’s a great champion for the county, and very well respected,” she said.
Moore will also be working alongside Richard Lorenz, who was re-elected in Division 5 with 390 votes. He defeated challengers Rod English and Jim Lougheed, who had 277 and 285 votes, respectively.
“It’s just a really nice report card,” said Lorenz. “I’ve worked hard in the last three years to represent the people out here, and I’ve got a good response, so I’m very happy with how it turned out.”
With the election now over, he is intent on getting straight back to work.
“There’s no break here. Things need doing, and issues need to be addressed, so we’ll just keep moving forward,” he said. Maintaining and improving roads throughout the county is one such issue, he added.
“We have more and more traffic on these roads, and it’s just a constant thing to keep up a grid system that we can move traffic through for people to get to work and do their business, and still not affect the farming community.”
Ties in ballot counts resulted in random draws being held in Divisions 3 and 4. In Division 3, Don Church was elected after winning the draw against Penny Archibald. Both candidates received 288 votes.
In Division 4, Connie Huelsman was elected after winning the draw against David Hoar. The two were tied after each receiving 328 votes.
Recounts held Tuesday confirmed the initial counts where the candidates were tied in both Divisions 3 and 4.
The county’s organizational meeting takes place Tuesday.