Reelected North Battleford mayor Ian Hamilton expressed his gratitude last week after learning that he had been returned to office for a second term.
"I'm very pleased and very honored that I will be returning as mayor of the City of North Battleford for the next four years," Hamilton said last Wednesday, shortly after nominations at City Hall closed.
"It really is a privilege to serve the public in this manner and I really am grateful for the opportunity to do so again."
Hamilton was the only candidate to file nomination papers in the mayor's race by the Sept. 19 4 p.m. deadline.
The mayor says his acclamation serves as a vote of confidence in the direction of the city.
"I take it as a mandate," said Hamilton. "It's the council that chose the paths that we did - we set out to develop a strategic plan, which we did. We're pleased to have done so and we'll be acting upon those core responsibilities going into the next four-year term."
Hamilton says he believes the acclamation indicates the achievements and directions chosen by council is "acceptable to the public overall" and pledged to build upon them.
There is still much to be determined about the composition of the new council. A total of 12 candidates are running to fill six council seats, with five incumbents seeking reelection.
Hamilton welcomes the competitive council race and said he believes it is "healthy for a community to have people vying for the opportunity to represent their community." He said he looks forward to working with whoever the successful candidates are on Oct. 24.
He sees the priorities over the next few years as building on the successes of the past term, as well as addressing some pressing issues.
"We cannot deny there are issues with respect to the crime-severity index ratings," said Hamilton, who notes some initiatives have now been enacted to address that.
Downtown revitalization is a big issue as well, which Hamilton says will be a priority of the council to enact initiatives and perhaps incentives in that regard.
He sees the city council as taking a leading role in bringing about change in the next term.
"We can sit back and let things happen to our community, or we can influence and make things happen. I really do think the CUPlex achievement here is a demonstration of a dedicated council making things happen. That's where we're going, that's where I want to lead the next council towards is making sure we are the difference, making sure we are the catalyst to change and the catalyst to making our community a better place to live."
Last week was a particularly eventful one for Hamilton and not just because of the election. Hamilton had been busy attending opening ceremonies for two components of the Credit Union CUPlex - the aquatic centre and the performing arts theatre.
Hamilton learned of his acclamation on a day when the public gathered at the CUPlex to be part of the live broadcast of CTV News as part of its fall Home Tour Tour, just one day before the Dekker Centre for the Performing Arts started four days of grand opening celebration performances.
When asked what he was more excited about - the CUPlex or being acclaimed as mayor - Hamilton admitted the CUPlex opening and the excitement surrounding that event was most significant to him.
"Looking out on the plaza here are all these people - they're experiencing it, they're seeing it now, they're feeling it. These are awesome days."
