Nanaimo’s new mayor-elect says he’s ready to roll up his sleeves and get to work.
Leonard Krog says the support he thought he had, turned out to support him.
“It’s a substantial margin of victory. It’s clear support, as I predicted, and hoped. We have elected a really good council in Nanaimo and there’s every reason to be optimistic. The people turned out in overwhelming numbers. I couldn’t be more humbled, thrilled, happy.”
Krog says his first order of business will be to sit down with the outgoing mayor, “Bill McKay, who had been dealt a difficult deck of cards and played them as best he could for four years to talk about transition. To get the new council together as soon as possible to talk about what it wants to do. I am one member of council, yes I am mayor, but I am one member of council and we are going to have to work together as a team and knowing all of them as well as I do, I think that is not only likely, I think that is what’s going to happen.”
Council members unofficially elected in Nanaimo included two incumbents, Sheryl Armstrong, and Ian Thorpe.
New to the table, unofficially, will be Don Bonner, Tyler Brown, Ben Geselbracht, Erin Hemmens, Zeni Maartman, and Jim Turley.
We asked the mayor-elect if winning the mayor’s chair isn’t bittersweet because it means Krog will have to vacate his chair in the Legislature.
“Not at all. I served 18 years in the B.C. Legislature, I am proud of my record, my talents have an opportunity to be used here in Nanaimo. People were asking me to do this, it wasn’t my idea and pretty clearly, they were serious when they were asking me. The last numbers I heard gave me about 75 per cent of the vote, so very clearly, people when they said come and try and be mayor of Nanaimo, meant it and it’s worked out very well.”
BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson didn’t waste any time either.
He sent out a news release Saturday night saying the BC Liberals are excited to put forward a candidate for a by-election in Nanaimo who can effectively stand up to the NDP’s agenda.
Wilkinson says a number of well-qualified individuals have expressed interest in seeking the nomination, and the door is open to others who may come forward.
