'Sixth time the charm': St. Thomas, Ont. councillor finally wins seat after 22 years, mayor re-elected

Rose Gibson could not believe it when she saw the final election results.

“I’ve run six times,” says Gibson, a long-time community volunteer who first ran for council in the 2000 municipal election.

“Every time I ran my numbers went up and I improved. I saw where my mistakes are and I’m very passionate for my community and I just want to see what's really best for our community,” she says.

Gibson joined Tara McCaulley as the only newcomers on city council. The six others re-elected were incumbents.

Mayor Joe Preston was re-elected with 57 per cent of the vote.

Excited and unable to sleep much, he was in his office at St. Thomas City Hall before the sun rose Tuesday morning. He spent time responding to congratulatory messages and reaching out to other politicians.

Re-elected Mayor Joe Preston was back to work in his office early morning on Oct. 25, 2022 after celebrating his victory the night before. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)

“I’ve been reaching out to the council that was re-elected with me, and reaching out to the new members,” says Preston. “I also needed to reach out to the mayors of the neighboring municipalities and have a quick talk with them and set up what our future looks like working together with them.”

Unlike many communities in southwestern Ontario, voters in St. Thomas were pleased with their current council.

“I’m quite happy with the way the election went,” says one man in front of the local library.

Former mayor and veteran councillor Steve Peters led all councillors in total votes, and he says working with neighbouring municipalities is his top priority.

“We've had some issues with land that we've acquired in Central Elgin, we have a lot of duplication of service,” says Peters who has been involved with council in St. Thomas since 1988.

“I think the time has come that we have the serious discussion of making sure that we're getting the best value for taxpayer’s dollars that we possibly can,” he says.

During the campaign, economic development along with housing and homelessness became key issues.

“Like every city, St. Thomas has homelessness, drug issues, mental illness, and they've started working on it and I think they've had some success, but I think there's a long way to go yet,” says one man who voted. “I think it's a good group and I think they'll work together well.”

Mayor elect Joe Preston (L) poses with Jim Herbert and Jeff Kohler who return as councillors following the 2022 municipal election in St. Thomas, Ont. on Oct. 24, 2022. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)

Preston feels that with a new development at the west end of the city which will house 40 homeless, and another building to come at Ross and Centre streets, he thinks they can house the 100 homeless on the “By Names List” in the city by the end of 2023.

“Whether they're poverty issues, homelessness and housing, and on the other side, economic development and growth, one helps pay for the other and one helps fix the other,” says Preston.

“There's a lot of things in the middle of that that have to have to be well done,” he adds. “We still need the water to come on and the roads to be paved and all of those things that cities do. But those are the two extremes that this council has done a great job of planning and working on.”

The eight elected councillors include Peters, Gibson, McCaulley, Steve Wookey, Gary Clarke, Jeff Kohler, Jim Herbert and Lori-Baldwin Sands.

A swearing in ceremony for the new council will take place Nov. 7, 2022.