The Province from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • 9

ff NEWS I A9 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16. 2014 THEPR0VINCE.COM I XJ 3 Former railway executive wins tight race by 600 votes over incumbent Bruce Banman fSw fit' She 1 i "'Vi i Glenda Luymes SUNDAY PROVINCE Former railway man Henry Braun steamed to victory in Abbotsford Saturday taking the mayor's chair from incumbent Bruce Banman. Braun won by a 600-vote margin over chiropractor Banman in a tight mayoral race that saw four incumbents and four members of the Abbotsford First slate win council seats. "It feels wonderful," he said of winning, before adding that he was ready to get to work. Braun will head a council made up of several new faces, including members of the newly-created Abbotsford First slate, Ross Siemens, Bren-da Falk, Kelly Chahal and Sandy Blue, and incumbents Patricia Ross, Moe Gill, Les Barkman and Dave Loewen.

Braun called the results "very humbling." "We don't take the public trust lightly," he said. "It's a huge responsibility. We've got a lot of work ahead to make Abbotsford the economic hub of the Fraser Valley." The Abbotsford mayoral race was tight from the start, as both Banman and Braun tried to convince voters they were the best choice to tackle a series of high-profile issues, from homelessness and the continuing fallout from the termination of the Abbotsford Heat hockey contract, to council accountability and city spending. Both men were new to the Abbotsford council chamber four years ago, when Banman beat then-incumbent Mayor Geoge Peary in an election defined by anger over the Heat deal and a proposed $291-million P3 water project. Braun was seen by many as a voice of reason during that campaign, saying the city wouldn't run out of water.

The project was later put on hold. Braun, a rancher and former CEO of the Abbots-ford-based Pacific Northern Rail ran on a campaign of fiscal responsibility and better accountability in local government. Viewed by many as a good businessman who zealously guarded taxpayer dollars during his time as councillor, Braun also ran afoul of at least one high-profile Abbotsford developer, who questioned whether he would be in a conflict of interest as mayor because his son, Darren Braun, is director of development planning at the city. In regards to the homelessness issue, which came to a head in the summer of 2013 when city workers dumped chicken manure on a homeless camp, Braun said he wanted to work with the homeless to end a series of court cases that have been brought against the city. Braun told The Province his priority was fiscal responsibility.

"This is not something new, this is something I ran on thee years ago," he said, referring to his council campaign in 20 1 1 He also promised government accountability. The mayor will see a mix of old and new faces around the council table. Both Ross and Gill have been on council for nearing two decades. The council campaign took several nasty turns in recent weeks when an online newspaper mistakenly posted a satirical article making fun of candidate Lyle Caldwell. The article prompted an apology from candidate Vince Dimanno, who co-owns the newspaper.

Dimanno was the only member of the Abbotsford First slate not elected. While party politics have not been the norm in the city in the past, the slate had success, with four candidates elected. Caldwell was not elected. Abbotsford's voter turnout was 38.4 per cent. gluymestheprovince.com Henry Braun was elected Abbotsford mayor, beating incumbent Bruce Banman.

glenda luymespng Hawes unseats Adlem for Mission mayoralty VicktOT IS victor as mayor Of Hope leadership. He said low property taxes had been accomplished by cutting important services, such as police and fire. He called the city's current downtown revi-talization plan "unrealistic." Hawes previously held the mayor's job for three terms before jumping to provincial politics where he spent three terms as MLA. Postmedia News of six council seats, including several young candidates who wanted to rejuvenate the city. Economic development was identifled as a key priority for many of Hope's mayoral and council candidates.

Ogren said the municipality had lost 3.5 per cent of its population over the last decade, while Young said many young people had moved away from the community in search of work. Postmedia News Randy Hawes was voted Mission's mayor on Saturday, with 3,068 votes. Hawes was one of five people running for mayor, including incumbent first-term mayor Ted Adlem, FVRD Electoral Area director Wendy Bales, community advocate Kevin Francis and Coun. Tony Luck. Luck came in second, with 2,236 votes.

There were also 19 candidates vying for six council seats, including incumbent councillors Dave Hensman, Jeff Jewel, Larry Nun-dal and Jenny Stevens. Stevens was the only one of the three to be re-elected. Hawes entered the race critical of Adlem's Wilfried Vicktor, a former Hope councillor, mayor, and school trustee, was elected again as mayor of Hope on Saturday, with 913 votes. Four candidates were vying for the mayor's chair, including longtime resident and Chamber of Commerce director Lloyd For-man, Hope Brewing Company owner Glen Ogren, businesswoman and former rancher Cindy Young and Vicktor, who had previously served as Hope's mayor for two terms. Mayor Susan Johnston opted not to seek re-election.

There were 13 people hoping to take one.