Yargeau in, Cooper out of mayor's chair in Penhold

PENHOLD – Penhold has a new mayor.

Mike Yargeau, 31, pulled in 516 votes, enough to oust incumbent mayor Dennis Cooper, who received 324 votes in the Oct. 16 municipal election. The results were the unofficial ones released on election night by the town.

Yargeau has served one previous term as a councillor. He is a small business owner.

“I'm feeling fantastic,” Yargeau said on election night after receiving the results. He said he knew he'd worked hard on his campaign, reaching out to the citizens of Penhold.

“Step one is to reach out to all the new councillors,” Yargeau said. Things will get moving right away, with council due to get sworn in on Oct. 18 and to have the organizational meeting - where meeting schedules and committees are decided - in a week.

Cooper could be seen immediately shaking Yargeau's hand via the town's Facebook Live feed on election night. Cooper served two terms as mayor and a previous 12 years on council.

Yargeau said his predecessor's 19 years of council service won't be forgotten.

“I wanted to congratulate Dennis for everything he's done for the town,” Yargeau said.

Yargeau will chair a council made up of two incumbent councillors and four newly elected ones.

The elected councillors are: Mike Walsh, 497 votes; Shawn Hamm, 444 votes; Shaun Kranenborg, 396 votes; Sharolyn Sanchez, 380 votes; Tyrone Muller, 357 votes; and Ken Denson, 345 votes.

Walsh and Sanchez are both incumbents. Kathy Sitter, the other incumbent councillor who ran, was not re-elected.

Nearly every councillor said they were honoured to be elected by the voters, and were enthusiastic to get to work.

“It's a great honour,” said Walsh, who was re-elected. He said it was a great day for Penhold and for Alberta as all the municipalities headed to the polls.

Kranenborg said he was hopeful that he'd be elected, and is looking forward to working with the new council.

“I'm absolutely excited,” he said. He said a strong group of candidates ran for election. “I'm mostly excited about the team.”

Hamm said his first job after being sworn in will be to start working on the things he said he wanted to focus on, including law enforcement.

“I feel great, I'm really happy and really excited,” he said.

Sanchez was happy to be re-elected, but pointed out she was now the only woman on council.

“I feel a little bit out of balance,” she said, noting that she had already heard from a female constituent who now felt under-represented.

But she's looking forward to starting a term where she's better acquainted with the job of councillor and more ready to tackle the budget, which will come up soon.

First steps for new councillor Muller will be learning what's involved in his new role, including preparing for the budget process.

“I'm honoured, I'm humbled, I'm surprised,” he said of his results.

Denson, the final new councillor, was happy and is anxious to start work.

“I feel confident in what I can do for Penhold,” he said.

According to returning officer Bonnie Stearns, 852 ballots were cast in the election.