Iqaluit (Dec 04/06) - Rookie councillor Al Hayward beat out veterans Simon Nattaq and Glenn Williams in a secret ballot vote to become deputy mayor of Iqaluit at a council meeting Nov. 28.

Results of the vote weren't released.

Coun. Glenn Williams sighs before the start of a city council meeting in Iqaluit last week. Williams lost in his bid for another term as deputy mayor. - Chris Windeyer/NNSL photo

Hayward suggested his political inexperience was an asset, not a liability, considering what he called declining voter turnout.

"The public interest has been waning in recent years," he said.

In his pitch to council, Williams, who served as deputy mayor for two years, said as a three-term councillor, he had a grasp of the city's "corporate history."

Nattaq said council must "represent everyone." He said he wanted to be deputy to serve Mayor Elisapee Sheutiapik, councillors and staff.

Coun. Jimmy Kilabuk, a former mayor, requested the deputy's term be up for renewal annually, to which councillors agreed.

Sheutiapik thanked Williams for his service as deputy mayor.

Coun. Claude Martel arrived late for the meeting. When told he missed the vote for deputy mayor quipped, "Oh, good."

Another new face among city staff

Iqaluit has a new city clerk, but she's no newcomer to the North. Tracy Leschyshyn took over the clerk's job Nov. 22. She attended the council meeting Nov. 28.

Leschyshyn hails from Edmonton, but spent the last seven years working in the Nunavut justice department. Before that she lived in Yellowknife.

Put council contacts online, says Boudreau

New councillor Mark Boudreau wants his name in lights, or at least on the Internet.

The city's web page still shows the former council's names and contact information, something Boudreau wants to see remedied.

He said he wants Iqalummiut to have a way to contact their elected representatives through the city instead of through personal e-mail addresses.

Mike Bozzer, the city's economic development officer, said he would be collecting biographical information from councillors for a website update soon.