"We need help from everybody," was the message from Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff during the inaugural meeting Tuesday night.
Canniff was one of the 18 members of the municipal council sworn in for the 2022-2026 term.
The ceremony took place in front of a large crowd inside the Capitol Theatre in downtown Chatham.
"The 17 councillors and myself can't do it alone, we need help from everybody," said Canniff. "Working together is the most effective. I put a challenge out to everybody to do five per cent more in the community. If every person in this room and every person in Chatham-Kent gave five per cent more, what a community we would have."
The municipality welcomed five new councillors, along with 12 incumbent councillors.
Lauren Anderson, Ryan Doyle, Rhonda Jubenville, Conor Allin, and Alysson Storey are Chatham-Kent's five first-time councillors.
Conor Allin is the new Ward 6 councillor, who says he's excited to represent the municipality for the next four years.
"I think we're going to do some great work over the next four years," said Allin.
Some of the issues most important to Allin that he said need to be addressed included infrastructure and growth.
"Having the ability to support that growth while trying to retain and keep people in Chatham-Kent has been one of our biggest issues in the last 20 years or so," said Allin. "People get to the age of 17 years old and can't wait to get out of Chatham. Hopefully, we can change that culture and have the people who are proud of Chatham-Kent stay in Chatham-Kent."
Lauren Anderson is the new Ward 1 councillor, who says the diversity sitting on municipal council for the next four years is amazing.
"I think all of us will bring certain things to the table and I think it's going to be really important for us to come to a commonality and listen to all sides in order to do the best we can," said Anderson.
After being sworn in, members of council were read messages from both Chatham-Kent Leamington MPP Trevor Jones and Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Monte McNaughton, who both congratulated the incoming members for their achievement and also thanked previous members for their commitment to the region.
The first meeting with the new members of council will take place on Monday, November 21.
