Nelson’s new city council was formally inaugurated Monday night at a special council meeting held at the Prestige Lakeside Resort attended by about 200 people.
When the audience loudly applauded the new council, Mayor John Dooley joked, “You’d better take that in — it might be the last time you’ll hear that.”
Councillor Janice Morrison was unanimously chosen as Nelson’s representative on the Regional District of Central Kootenay board, with Councillor Brittny Anderson as the alternate.
Councillors Cal Renwick and Keith Page were unanimously chosen to represent the city on the regional recreation commission.
Those were the only decisions made at the meeting, which was short and ceremonial, followed by food, drink and socializing.
In a speech, Dooley listed several things he wants to accomplish, including the development of the Mount St. Francis land and the transfer station land. He also said he wants council to listen to the community, and he assured the audience he will be doing just that.
“You can count on me as your mayor, because I love to talk to people, I love to visit people,” he said.
Dooley said he is impressed with the new council.
“There is a diversity of ideas here, a terrific group of people, an excellent spread in age group. We have young families that will keep us connected,” he said.
“I want to work closely with every councillor here, with their list [of things they want to accomplish]. We’ll sit down and say, how can we make this happen?
“I am very excited about working with this group because they bring a new perspective, they bring a new piece of our community to the table.”
