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West Vancouver's new mayor won by 21 votes

Mary-Ann Booth has been elected mayor of the District of West Vancouver by just 21 votes.
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West Vancouver’s next mayor, Mary-Ann Booth. Photo supplied

Mary-Ann Booth has been elected mayor of the District of West Vancouver by just 21 votes.

Booth narrowly topped the polls in Saturday's general election with 4,394 votes, beating out Mark Sager who finished with 4,373 votes and Christine Cassidy with 2,609 votes.

"I feel fantastic. It was a real nail biter and I congratulate my opponents for making us work really hard. I thank them and I congratulate them for their commitment and conviction," Booth said at her campaign bash at Delany's Coffee House in Dundarave.

Preliminary results show council will be made up of Marcus Wong, Craig Cameron, Peter Lambur, Nora Gambioli, Bill Soprovich and Sharon Thompson. Wong and Thompson are newcomers to council. All of the incumbents who ran to keep their seats won.

As individual voting stations' results were tabulated, Booth and Sager were rarely more than 100 votes apart. Booth said her heart was up in her throat while watching.

"It was like Secretariat and Sham in 1973 - neck and neck," she said. "I have to be honest. That was not fun, that part. That was nerve wracking."

Booth said she expects she will be able to work with the re-elected incumbents and Thompson and Wong to advance an agenda that includes pursuing the growth goals in the official community plan, new local area plans to guide development in Horseshoe Bay, Ambleside and Dundarave and the Taylor Way corridor, as well as transportation issues and revitalizing West Vancouver's town centres.

That may make some feel uncomfortable but Booth said she will be a mayor for all of West Vancouver.

"As I've always said, I listen, find the common ground, find the sweet spot. And there is a sweet spot in the community. This is about preserving what we love but meeting our community's needs," she said.

On election night, the ballots are tabulated at each of the voting stations and then phoned in to municipal hall. The official results of the election will be posted on Wednesday by 4 p.m.

"The printouts from the tabulation machines are also being brought in and they'll be put in the vault and everything will be double checked," said Donna Powers, district spokeswoman. "They'll go through the printouts and make sure the numbers were entered correctly."

Booth said she is confident that the electronic ballots will be more reliable than hand ballots and that her victory won't be clawed back as that process plays out.

Booth and the new council will be sworn in on Nov. 5.

Farther back in the mayoral race were Rosa Jafari who finished with 234 votes and Nolan Strong who finished with 140.

Below are the unofficial District of West Vancouver council results:

Elected:

Marcus Wong 6229

Peter Lambur 5558

Craig Cameron 5384

Nora Gambioli 5359

Bill Soprovich 4950

Sharon Thompson 4942

Not elected:

Jim Finkbeiner 4922

Gabrielle Loren 4349

Andy Krawczyk 3744

Heather Mersey 3139

David Jones 2128

Kate Manvell 1826

Carolanne Reynolds 1696

Click here for the unofficial result, sourced from a feed provided by CivicInfoBC.