Heather Wright/The Independent

The new mayor of Lambton Shores promises a more transparent government.

Jeff Wilcox defeated incumbent Doug Cook in Monday’s vote garnering 3,020 votes or 63 per cent of the ballots cast in the mayor’s race.

Wilcox said he is “pleasantly surprised” by the margin of the win adding his message of “just be open and transparent – don’t hide anything – just let people know what’s going on” resonated with voters.

Dan Sageman was re-elected as deputy mayor, earning 2,616 votes to Marilyn Smith’s 2,008. There were 240 ballots marked abstain in the deputy mayor’s race.

In the other races Monday evening, paramedic Chris Vanderydt is the Ward 1 (Grand Bend) representative; DJ Pugh will represent Ward 4 (Forest); Suzanne Shea will be the councillor for Ward 5; and Randy Shaw will represent Ward 7. Wards 2, 3, and 6 were acclaimed.

Wilcox is looking forward to working with the new council.

“People have asked me if I’m going to use Strong Mayor powers, and I think no,” he tells The Independent. “I’ll just break ties and let council do its job because I think we got a good council.”