MULGRAVE: Ralph Hadley, who has experience with Mulgrave Town Council stretching back over 15 years, will now sit at the head of the table for council sessions.
Hadley won the mayor’s seat last Saturday over incumbent Mayor Lorne MacDonald in the only contested race in the town.
Hadley got the drop on MacDonald 186-106. With only 292 votes recorded, turn-out in Mulgrave was at 50.2 per cent.
“I went to a lot of houses and talked to a lot of people, and a lot of people suggested I run,” the new mayor told The Reporter on October 15.
“I’ll work hard to do all the things needed to get done around here. People were asking me to run and help give the place a little boost.”
Three councillors were acclaimed, with Evangeline Breen, Sheila Brophy, and Ron Chisholm all returning to the table.
A special election is planned for December 3 to fill the remaining council seat.
Hadley said he was home with his grandkids and daughter when the news came to him. His wife texted him to let him know.
“We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we’re down one councillor too, so we’re hoping someone will step up to the plate,” Hadley said. “We’d love to get another councillor here to help make our community a better place.”
Hadley said the challenges facing the town are numerous, and they include the forthcoming dissolution of town status and Mulgrave joining the Municipality of the District of Guysborough. Hadley’s been part of the dissolution committee, and he cited that as a useful bit of experience in terms of dealing with the province.
“We have a great relationship with Guysborough, and we’re hoping that will carry on,” he said. “We’re hoping that Guysborough will help to promote Mulgrave. They have expertise there — development officers and things like that — that can help make our community better.
“They have money and expertise, and we’re just getting by. We can’t keep doing that.”
In addition to the dissolution, Hadley said getting the town’s $4 million water treatment plant up and running will be a front-running priority.
“We’re going to try to jump start that,” he said.
“We also have very high water rates, the second highest in Nova Scotia, and I’m hoping we can do some brainstorming with council to see what we can do about that.”