WESTVILLE
Lennie White is the new mayor of Westville and wants to hear from the people.
A councilor since 2012 and for three of those years its deputy mayor, White announced several weeks ago that he intended to run for the mayoral job.
No other potential candidate declared interest in running by the time the Nov. 14 (5 p.m.) deadline passed.
White said he’d like to hold a town meeting with citizens sometime early in the new year and suggested that he was impressed that residents who were opposed to the idea of coal mine exploration in Westville – which is now a dead issue – were relentless.
“A large number of people became involved in that,” he said.
“I’d like to call the public meeting get more inputs from citizens. We have to figure out what our identity is, and I’m open to hearing from the residents.”
The mayor’s seat in Westville became vacant earlier this year when Roger MacKay stepped down on what was then a temporarily basis to run for the Conservative Party of Canada in the riding of Central Nova.
MacKay withdrew midway through the federal election campaign: He officially said it was for “personal reasons”, although speculation, while unconfirmed, is rampant that MacKay may have been forced out. He later announced he was retiring from political life.
White will officially take over at the Nov. 25 regular council meeting.
White’s council seat is now up for grabs. As of yet, no one has officially declared an intention to run for the seat. The deadline for that is Nov. 19 at 5 p.m.
