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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, October 30, 2014 | 22 Most councillors returned to their seats in Monday's election continued from p. 4 Johnston's 1,845 while a second challenger, Linda Oliver, had 1,358. "I'm looking forward to doing what I've been talking to people about," O'Meara said. "Engaging residents in a way that promotes accessibility -- Allan Elgar engaging and listening to work with them." There will be one other first-time councillor after Nick Hutchins won a close Ward 3 town council race over Tim Danter and Scott McColeman. Hutchins, who ran in the 2010 election, was one of eight candidates vying for the seat vacated by Gittings, who chose to run for, and won, the ward's town and regional post. Despite the large slate of candidates, it came down to a battle between Hutchins and Danter. They were separated by less than 100 votes throughout the night -- the margin was as slim as 19 late in the evening -- but Hutchins pulled away as the final polls reported. He finished with 1,479 votes to Danter's 1,260 while McColeman, with a late push, finished K a r a s t a n A r e a R u g s with 1,249. Though he lacks experience as a councillor, Hutchins says he does have experience with council. "I've been going to council for 15 years with Ward 3 issues," said the past-president of the Trafalgar-Chartwell Cathy Duddeck Residents' Association. "I'm very passionate about Oakville, especially the downtown." Hutchins said revitalizing the downtown, creating more park space and building a community centre in the ward will be his priorities. "Our ward has the fewest amenities," he said. While happy to win a seat on council, Hutchins was disappointed with the voter turnout, with only a third of eligible voters casting a ballot. Both Ward 6 candidates faced little opposition in retaining their place on council. Town and regional councillor Tom Adams received a whopping 93.4 per cent of the vote, the highest percentage of any candidate, while Max Khan took 85.5 per cent of the ward's town council vote. · M i r a g e H a r d w o o d "We have a good group, a good team," Adams said of the new council. "We have a little bit of new blood, and that's always healthy to have, but we also have the experience of those that are returning. It's the best possible scenario for Oakville." Adams said the Max Khan results "show the direction we've been taking is the right direction" and said council will continue to work toward controlling growth, preserving green space and building infrastructure in new communities while renewing in established communities. Ward 2 incumbents Cathy Duddeck and Pam Damoff were also easily re-elected. Duddeck received 86.9 per cent of the vote in the town and regional councillor race while Damoff, who won the town council seat, was not far behind, earning 83.2 per cent. "The nice thing is being back with Cathy Duddeck. We worked well together for the ward and we're both returning to council," said Damoff, who returns for a second term. "It's pretty humbling for the residents of Ward 2 to send me back with such a strong mandate. It's a pretty big honour to serve the ward and I don't take it lightly." Gittings, running for a new role in his familiar Ward 3, took 85.5 per cent of the town and regional councillor votes. Allan Elgar was also an overwhelming favourite for Ward 4 town and regional Tom Adams councillor, getting 79.8 per cent of the vote. Marc Grant received only 51.6 per cent of the vote, but with five candidates for the Ward 5 town council seat, that still gave him a comfortable victory. He finished with 3,893 votes, three times that of runner-up Linda Nazareth. Roger Lapworth was re-elected to the Ward 4 town council seat with 59.1 per cent of the vote, more than 3,000 ahead of his closest rival, Liana Palmeiro-McIvor. Stephen Maloney drew the highest percentage among the runners-up with 40.2 per cent of the vote in the Ward 1 town council race. But that still left him 1,100 votes behind incumbent Ralph Robinson, who retained his seat with 59.8 per cent of the vote. Peerless Carpeting · Buyers Edge Guarantee · 200 Store Buying Power Persian DIAMOND PLATINUM THe NATiONAL FLOOriNg SALe* *Ends novEmbEr 24, 2014 Oak Artic Laurentian Hardwood Rugs · Peerless LaminatE as Low as $ 29 per 2 sq.ft CarpEt as Low as $ 99 3 per sq.ft Hardwood as Low as $ 39 4 per sq.ft AreA rugS Largest Buying Power $ 5' X 8' STArTiNg AT 99 CarPet CeramiCs NeW KArASTAN, SmArT STrANd, SiLK rugS Carpeting · 200 Hardwood We CArry THe BrANdS yOu TruST CarPet Store Buying CommerCiaL FLooring exPerts CarPet CarPet 100's oF area rugs, Persian rugs, Designer rugs Following locations only: Power opeN SuNDAYS SuperStore trafalgar village, (across from Oakville Go Station) Oakville 905.849.4472 M i r a g e H a rd w o o d · K a r a s t a n C a r p e t i n g · 228 KiNg St. e. Hamilton 905-546-1921 P e r s i a n R u g s