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Next Paper: Friday, July 15, 2016 Deadline: Monday, July 11, 2016 by Rhonda Mulcahy North Ward Councillor, Town of Whitby mulcahyr@whitby.ca Rhonda Mulcahy Elected as North Ward Councillor Voting for the North Ward One By-election closed on Thursday, June 16 at 8:00 p.m. Following the certification of the results by the Town Clerk, Rhonda Mulcahy was elected into the Office of Town Councillor North Ward One and will hold office until the term concludes on November 30, 2018. Councillor Mulcahy was sworn in under the Municipal Act as the North Ward Councillor following the completion of her declaration of office at a Special Council meeting held on Monday, June 20 at 5:30 p.m. in Council Chambers. She then assumed her seat at Council for the first time at the meetings of Council scheduled for later on that evening. "I am glad to have Rhonda on our team. She shares Council's vision and has been active and engaged in our community for as long as I have known her - which is a long time," said Mayor Don Mitchell. "She has earned this opportunity through years of dedication and will be a great addition to Council." North Ward residents can contact their new Councillor at mulcahyr@whitby.ca or 905.430.4300, extension 2203. Regional Councillors Joe Drumm and Elizabeth Roy, Mayor Don Mitchell, Maureen Stevens, Gordon Stevens, North Ward Councillor Rhonda Mulcahy, Thomas Mulcahy, Liam Mulcahy, Regional Councillor Derrick Gleed, West Ward Councillor Christopher Leahy, and Centre Ward Councillor Michael Emm. Photo by Lorri Busch Ward Won Oh boy. Here we go. Thank you Ward One. You have given me a job which I'd considered for a very long time. I did not go into this lightly, and I remain steadfast in how serious I consider this job. I'm just a week and a half into it, and I can tell you now that the estimated time to do the job was not an exaggeration. I'm grateful to our staff at the Town and the other members of Council who continue to give good advice. Early the day after the election, I was taking down signs with our son when I received the call. Time to get to work. No joke. Stop. Shower. Change. And off to Town Hall to get my schedule. Nothing could have topped my first event. Cutting the ribbon on the 407. Roger Anderson ribbed me about my abilities after being elected just the night before. "Just getting things done," I said. So how about the 407? I feel like we are in a honeymoon stage. We really won't see the entire impact until after the tolls get charged in 2017. It will take a year to see the difference. And, as I've been told, traffic studies in other areas of the 407 showed that when the tolls began being charged, approximately 20% of the traffic returned to the existing roads. We will have to wait to see the true impact. Until then, let's enjoy Winchester Road shall we? The family day on the 407 was pretty great. I have to hand it to staff for pulling that together rather quickly. Thousands showed up for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The heat didn't keep anyone away. I've been receiving correspondence from the community, and I'm happy to help. I have a new email address for Town businesses at mulcahyr@whitby.ca. Please use this one as I'm attempting to keep those items separate. I'm entering this role just in time to hit the last meetings of the season for many of my committees. I'm council representative on the Brooklin Downtown Development Steering Committee, Doors Open Whitby Advisory Committee, Whitby in Bloom and the Groveside Cemetery. I'm very excited to be part of all of these as I've already worked with them in the past and know that I can be an asset to each of them. It's quite a pleasure to be on each of these committees. So far, I've been to many events and am working my way through department heads at the Town to orient myself with what I need to know and convey back community concerns I was made aware of in the last few months. Luckily, two of the events I've attended have been staff BBQs where I reacquainted myself with some faces. (Most fun was the reaction of some of the Parks staff when they realized I was the same Rhonda who dug flower beds as a college student back in the early 90s.) Another good news item came through this week. The two homes on beams on Durham Street behind the Brooklin Pub are about to be landed. In the next few weeks, we should see foundations in and the houses set in place. Then the renovations will begin to bring them back to life. It's been a long time coming, and I know we are all anxious to see this part of the downtown come together. I think it's safe to say that our entire downtown seems to be under construction right now. The bridge, the recent demolition of old buildings, the erection of new ones - it's everywhere. I'm excited for what this will look like in the future. In the meantime, I'm getting to work on my long list of notes that I took at the door. (And I am still listening by the way.) Once again, thank you. I feel the weight of what I need to do. And I'm going to do my best as your representative. Publisher's Note: Originally from Scarborough, Liz Lowe has lived in Durham Region for over twenty years and currently resides in Brooklin with her husband Anthony and their pet parrot Pebbles. In her spare time, she is an avid photographer, loves to cook, and is a passionate reader of mysteries. She is an enthusiastic (die hard) Maple Leafs fan and is a past contributor to Surfacing Magazine which showcases Durham`s artistic and creative people.