Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 25/02) - About one-third of Inuvik voters turned out to elect a new town council and district education authority on Monday.

Councillor (votes) -Clarence Wood (329) -Arlene Hansen (321) -Alfred Moses (308) -George Doolittle (300) -Denny Rogers (299) -Derek Lindsay (286) -Marja Van Niewnhuyzen (258) -Cheryl Patricia Sharpe (231) -Gerald Lennie (226) -Vince Brown (226) -Vince Sharpe (226) -Brian Campbell (159) -Desmond Loreen (152) District Education Authority -Sue Clarkson (368) -Shauna Grant (309) -Judy Harder (280) -Ruth Wright (267) -Jeffery Amos (267) -Deanna Marie Jacobsen (266) -Shauna MacKay (262) -Gerri Sharpe-Staples (247) -Mary Beckett (242) -Kenneth Wayne Richards (130) -Jo-Anne Kinsella (128) * bold face type denotes elected

Returning officer Jerry Veltman said 540 people voted -- 35 per cent of the 1,444 registered voters in Inuvik. In the 2000 election, Veltman said 778 voted, or 54 per cent, of the electorate turned out.

"With no mayor being elected this year, numbers are probably down," Veltman said.

"There's usually more interest in the mayor's race than the councillor's race."

No request for a recount had come in as of Tuesday afternoon, but candidates have 72 hours to make such a request.

Veltman said that because of a three-way tie for ninth place, should a councillor resign, council would have to decide to carry on with the seven councillors, or hold a bi-election.

Peter Clarkson, who was acclaimed as mayor for another term, said, "I think we've got a good representative cross-section of the community."

"It's good to see new people come in; it builds capacity," he said.

The past two terms there has only been one woman on council, but this time around there are three.

"That will bring forward issues to council that normally wouldn't get to council, because of concerns that they have in the community," Clarkson said.

He said he had hoped for a better voter turnout, but there was more support this time than two terms back.

"Last time we did pretty good, it was about 60 per cent," he said. "The time before that it was only 29 per cent."

"You'd like to see it at least at 50 per cent."

Returning councillor Clarence Wood received the most votes of all candidates and gives credit to his oratory skills.

"It just goes to show, if you've got a big mouth people listen," Wood joked following the win.

He said he feels the new mix is going to be a good thing for the town.

"We have four hold-overs, so we have the experience; we have four new people, which is ideal," he said.

Alfred Moses said he looks forward to serving his first term on council and hopes to bring a healthier focus to the table.

Although he didn't do much campaigning, Moses still garnered 308 votes -- a third-place finish for his first campaign.

"I was surprised how well I did, considering it's my first time," Moses said.

He said he feels the combination of new and experienced councillors will make an interesting mix.

"It's good that we've got some returning councillors and some new faces who are working in the community," Moses said. "I think it will be good, because we can focus on a broader aspect of the community's needs."

"I think it will bring a whole new set of goals to town council," he said.

Mayor Clarkson said a swearing-in ceremony will take place Nov. 12 and the first council meeting will be held the next day.