By Mark Squibb
Residents in Mount Pearl seem satisfied with the status quo at City Hall, as all seven incumbents will once again sit around the council table following the most recent municipal election.
“You could tell from the get-go, when the first results started coming in, that it was looking fairly promising for the incumbents,” said Mayor Dave Aker. “I think that it reflects the confidence the voters had in us. We had a good term. And I think the key is that we work well together. Our focus is on planning, and so at some point in time in 2026 we will be developing another strategic point for 2027 and beyond.”
Bill Antle, Isabelle Fry, Nicole Kieley, Chelsea Lane, Kim Locke and Mark Rice were all re-elected. Newcomers Don Kelly, Mike Peach, Susan Pearcey, Bailey Rempel, and Wanda Tiller put in strong showings, but not enough to overcome the incumbency factor.
“One of the criticisms that you may hear is that there are no new, fresh faces,” said Aker. “The reality is that we have three members of council (Chelsea Lane, Mark Rice, and Nicole Kieley) that have only been on council for four years and they cross three demographic age groups. So, I think we still have a bit of freshness, and I know we have a lot of energy.”
Aker himself was acclaimed as mayor prior to the election as no one stepped forward to challenge him for the chain of office.
“I think it was a vote of confidence,” said Aker of his acclamation. “If there were some serious reservations about my leadership or with the way the City is being run, I think you would have seen someone run against me.”
Aker spent some time at City Hall on election night, along with a handful of other council candidates and their supporters, watching the results come in together.
“It was a well-run election,” said Aker. “The only hitch we had was the Canada Post strike. In that particular case, we had some 80-odd ballots that were unaccounted for, in the sense that they were stuck in the system. So, we made arrangements with those 80-odd voters so that they could either come in and vote at City Hall with another mail-in ballot or vote at a polling station.”
The mayor congratulated each candidate on running a sincere campaign.
“All 11 candidates, six of whom were elected, carried themselves really, really well, and they’re all good community leaders in their own right,” said Aker.