WHITE ROCK - With a few new faces at the helm, the course has been set for White Rock council over the next four years.
The route was charted Monday evening (Dec. 1) when the winners of the 2014 civic election were officially sworn in before a crowd of about 200.Mayor Wayne Baldwin will resume his duties at the head of the council table, joined by councillors Helen Fathers, Grant Meyer and Bill Lawrence, who were all re-elected. New to city hall will be David Chesney, Megan Knight, and Lynne Sinclair.During Monday's ceremony, Baldwin outlined some of the top issues he expects council to be facing in the coming term, but not before acknowledging two council members from the past term.Al Campbell and Louise Hutchinson were both praised by Baldwin as being outspoken and passionate about White Rock, as well as having contributed greatly to the city. Campbell was not re-elected, while Hutchinson decided not to run again.Looking to the years that lay ahead, Baldwin said there were several key issues faced by the city, the first of which was the Official Community Plan and controlled growth."The voters have given a strong mandate to this council to encourage controlled growth within this city," he said. "One of the priorities we will have will be to review certain aspects of the Official Community Plan to ensure speculation is contained and that people have an understanding of what growth potential there might be."Newcomer Megan Knight said she was excited to serve the residents of White Rock, and agreed that the OCP should be key for the new team.Another fresh face at the table will be David Chesney, who's run for public office six times prior and has been a longtime council watcher. He said that while it's taken a while to get to the council table, he's already looking forward to rolling up his sleeves and getting to work."When my name flashed up at city hall on election night, that period of my life ended and now the next part starts," he said.cpoon@thenownewspaper.comSEE FULL STORY, PHOTO AT THENOWNEWSPAPER.COM