ARICHAT: Richmond County has a new deputy warden.
Without any other candidates nominated, District 3 Councillor Melanie Sampson was named Richmond Deputy Warden during the regular monthly meeting of Richmond Municipal Council on Oct. 25 in Arichat.
Warden Amanda Mombourquette, who was voted into the position one year ago, took time during the meeting to point out the “accountability measures” council instituted such as reinstating question period, livestreaming meetings, adding action items to agendas, investigating the tax rolls, the fire services agreement for Point Tupper, the new accessibility committee, and introducing new policies and bylaws.
“We’re working towards the best interests of the county,” she said.
The new deputy warden said she participated in a roundtable discussion with Telile looking back at the past 12 months.
“One of the things I think I’m most proud of is how we behave as a council, and how we are able to come to the table, and we’re able to have conversations that we don’t necessarily all agree on, that we listen to each other’s point of view, and that when we leave at the end of the night we’re typically joking and laughing as we go out to our cars,” she said. “I really value that piece in each and every one of our councillors and also our staff, and how we’re able to always find a bit of a common ground not matter what we do.”
District 2 Councillor Michael Diggdon acknowledged that not everyone has been pleased with some of their decisions.
“Every day, we’re not going to make the decisions that’s going to please everybody in the County of Richmond, however, we will do our best to make the decision that’s going to benefit the County of Richmond,” he said.
District 5 Councillor Brent Sampson said council has made some “missteps” over the past 12 months, but he is confident council can move in the right direction.
“We have some work to do on staff relations, and so on going forward,” he noted. “I think if we work together, we can get there. We all want to see this moving in the right direction.”
The warden agreed there is more work to do.
“I recognize that we’ve done some really great things, but I think we all would recognize that there’s still a whole lot more to do, and things we can be doing better,” she added.