Phil Allt and Michele Richardson take home councillor spots for Ward 3 in the 2022 Guelph municipal election.
As results from the vote were finalized Allt had 3,228 votes and Richardson had 1,362.
Richardson is new to council but has experience as assistant director of human resources at the County of Wellington. She beat out third-place finisher Kevin Bowman by just 65 votes.
Allt won in the 2018 election for Ward 3 and received 3,187 votes. June Hofland was also elected in Ward 3 with 2,764 votes, but did not seek re-election in 2022.
"The whole campaign experience was such an amazing experience and it was incredibly humbling," said Richardson.
She said winning was a surreal experience and will probably feel that way for the first three months.
"I've had a lot of experience at the county with municipal council and I've seen what a really strong cohesive can do and that's what I'm really hoping we can build," she said.
"This campaign trail was surprisingly more work than I anticipated when I entered this race for council," said Richardson. She said she didn't expect the amount of surveys and events she was invited to as a new council candidate.
She said she looks forward to working with Allt for Ward 3 with his wealth of experience.
"We have the most female dominant council that we've had in a long time and I'm excited about that," said Allt. "We certainly got a culturally diverse mix that we've never had before." Allt mentioned congratulating Ken Yee Chew winning in Ward 6.
Allt said he is looking forward to working with Richardson. "I need to talk to her about her work with the county because I am concerned that, that might create some fairly significant conflicts, but I don't know."
He said eight percent of Guelph's budget goes to the county and is a significant amount of money.
"She's a smart person. She's a pleasant person and quite approachable," said Allt. "I'm going to miss June but I think I've got a great alternative."
