New kids on the block: Fresh faces fill St. John's City Hall
Jeremy Eaton | CBC News | Posted: October 11, 2017 12:36 AM | Last Updated: October 11, 2017
Newly elected council officially sworn in Tuesday full of youth and excitement
It was standing room only at St. John's City Hall on Tuesday as the newest members of council said their oaths of office.
It was also a noticeably younger crowd in the gallery and in the seats of council chambers.
"I think we have probably the youngest council ever elected," said Danny Breen, the city's 15th mayor.
"The composition of the council is important because it more accurately reflects the demographics of our city."
During a typical council meeting, the gallery is a ghost town. But this was no usual council meeting.
The chambers has a capacity of 99 people, which it easily reached Tuesday afternoon. City staff provided a large screen with speakers to play the swearing-in ceremony for people who couldn't fit in the fourth-floor room.
"I am also encouraged by the optimism I feel in the city right now," said rookie councillor Ian Froude.
"There is a lot of optimism for the diversity of the council, the energy of the council, and I think it's going to be an exciting four years."
There was a different feel at City Hall on Tuesday. Prior to the start of the ceremony two women took a selfie with the chambers as a backdrop — something you don't see very often.
The city now has a new mayor in Danny Breen and a new deputy mayor in Sheilagh O'Leary. There are five new councillors, and five members of the new administration are women — a first for St. John's.
But there is a lot of work to do.
"The weight of the responsibility is really top of mind at the moment," said Ward 2 Coun. Hope Jamieson.
"All the conversations that I had with people at the doors, now I have to deliver on stuff I have spoken about with people. That's so exciting for me but the responsibility to get things done is on my mind."
After Jamieson was sworn in, and got a hug from the mayor, the crowd in the gallery erupted into applause.
Watching and wiping tears from her eyes was Renee Sharpe, the outsider candidate who tried to take the mayor's chair in last month's election but came up short.
"This is such an exciting day," Sharpe said.
"I am here to celebrate all of my sisters who got into council and all the guys who got in that I know are going to work collaboratively in a way that's fair and equitable to everyone in the city. There is lots to celebrate and lots to smile about."
Council wasted no time getting started and, led by the mayor, held its first meeting as a council.
In the chambers they are now referred to as councillors, but at home, many of the new faces are parents first and foremost.
Froude, Jamieson, Jamie Korab and Maggie Burton all had their children on hand to watch the hard work of their parents recognized.
"It definitely affects the way you make decisions," Burton said to reporters after the ceremony.
"Everything in the city that benefits children also benefits seniors and families and everybody. Everyone wins when we think about children."
Gold medal curler Jamie Korab was sworn in for Ward 3, while Deanne Stapleton took the oath as the new Ward 1 councillor.
Debbie Hanlon made her return as councillor at large, joining returning councillors Wally Collins, Sandy Hickman and Dave Lane.
With the ceremony and the first meeting behind them, the real work for fresh-faced council begins.