Mayor Stewart Bids Goodbye to Oxford Council

Outgoing Oxford Mayor Trish Stewart presided over her last Town Council meeting this evening. 

Before calling the meeting to a close, she took a few minutes to thank each of Oxford’s town councillors for their service to the community.

Stewart served sixteen years in the mayor’s chair, with the past few years possibly the most difficult of her tenure, guiding the town through the crisis of a sinkhole that shut down Oxford’s community centre, park, and swim area, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In her emotional farewell to council, Stewart noted the loss of four councillors who won’t be bringing their experience forward as Dave Clark, Rick Draper, Dawn Thompson, and Wendy Sweet-Kontuk did not re-offer. 

Only longtime councillor Wade Adshade and Brenton Colbourne — who joined council four years ago after serving as head of Public Works — will be around to help the newly elected councillors get up to speed.

Stewart also thanked Town Clerk Linda Clooney and Chief Administrative Officer Rachel Jones for their service. Stewart said Jones came to Oxford and found it “a bit of a mess, but showed the town the right way — the proper way” to administer town business.

Mayor Stewart ended by recognizing the enormous contributions of Oxford’s community groups and volunteers who “get things done”. She added, the more we work together, the more things will be accomplished.

The Town of Oxford’s incoming mayor, Greg Henley, and new councillors Paul Jones and Carla Black, will be sworn in on Monday, November 2nd.

The new Council’s first order of business will be setting the date for a by-election to fill the two empty seats on council.

Residents of Oxford who wish to serve as councillors will have another opportunity to put their names forward in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

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