There will be a new face at the table when Village of Clyde council meets in the new year.
Art Purdy was declared the winner of a byelection in the village Dec. 11, where he received 54 of the 70 votes cast, while council hopeful Chris Terry received 16.
“I’d like to congratulate him and also thank Chris for letting his name stand,” said Clyde mayor Matthew White. “Congratulations to Art and I look forward to working with him over the next few years.”
“I’m excited to see what he brings to the table.”
Purdy said he was happy with the result, but didn’t expect there to be such difference in the numbers of votes cast for each candidate.
“I’m excited to move on to going into the position and taking part in what’s happening,” said Purdy, the day after the byelection.
Purdy said he had often thought about entering municipal politics, but it wasn’t until now he felt it was the right time.
“Let’s see if we can’t come up with some ideas on trying to keep the town alive and even grow a little bit.”
Purdy said he would like to see a cannabis production facility in the village.
“I think that we have land here. Other places are getting them and I’m sure they have to pay a fair amount for their land. If they were to put one here, they would see profits a lot sooner,” he said.
“Here you have the crossroads and you’re in the centre of the province. To me, a business like that wouldn’t have the heavy truck traffic that some businesses have. It would cut down on pounding the roads.”
Purdy also said he was interested in emergency management, as he has been a volunteer firefighter for 36 years.
“I’m concerned that if there was some kind of large disaster that the town is prepared. So many times a disaster happens and everybody is criticized for not being prepared and part of that is being able to keep people informed on what happening and what happens next,” said Purdy.
He also urged residents to get involved in the happenings of the community by attending council meetings and learning about what is going on.
Clyde council meets again Jan. 7 at 2 p.m.
