Iqaluit (Oct 27/03) - The municipal elections are over in Iqaluit and it's time to get down to business for the city's new mayor.

Elisapee Sheutiapik: With the election over it's time to go to work as the new mayor. - Neils Christensen/NNSL photo

There's going to be a lot of work that the new city council will have to address.

Elisapee Sheutiapik, who won the mayor's seat, is anxious to get to work.

Some of the issues she would personally like to address include public safety and housing development in the city.

"I'm very excited about this new council. I think there's a good mixture of people on council," she said. "Listening to them, I think we have a lot in common."

It was a close race between Sheutiapik and incumbent John Matthews. Only 40 votes separated the two.

Sheutiapik came out on top with 546 votes. Matthews received 506 votes, Keith Irving received 203 votes and Jimmy Kilabuk received 140 votes. There were 15 spoiled ballots and a voter turnout of 55.2 per cent.

Sheutiapik said her first priority as mayor will to bring the council together to talk about some of the issues that need to be addressed.

"I think we need to come up with a plan and list our priorities," she said. "Communication is going to be important."

The new council is a mixture of new and old. Three incumbents -- Stu Kennedy, Glenn Williams and Chris Wilson -- are back on council.

The new members are Nancy Gillis, Annie Gordon, Simanuk Kilabuk, Goola Nakashook and Simon Nattaq.

Gordon received the most votes with 944, Williams came in second with 789 votes, Wilson was third with 768 votes, Kilabuk was fourth with 763 votes, Gillis was fifth with 762 votes, in sixth place was Nattaq with 750 votes, Kennedy placed seventh with 743 votes. Nakashook nabbed the final seat on council with 679 votes. There were 25 spoiled ballots.

Robert Billard received 575 votes, Theresa Rogrigue received 491, Brad Hall received 349, Claude Martel received 342 and Lynda Gunn, who dropped out of the race but not in time to remove her name from the ballots, received 164 votes.

Of the 2,500 registered voters in Iqaluit, 1,410 people cast ballots.

"I think it was a good voter turnout," Sheutiapik said.

The new mayor and council will be sworn in Nov. 3. Their first council meeting will be on Nov. 12.