Canal Flats Mayor-elect Mark Doherty is getting ready to take office and says his term will be focused on unifying the community and bringing economic development.
Doherty won the election by chance after the vote ended up with a tie between him and his opponent and former village council member Doug McCutcheon, with each candidate earning 158 votes.
“Doug and I agreed to a draw, the judge put our names in a box and drew my name,” said Doherty. “It does tell you about the divide in the community. We knew it was going to be a close race, but we didn’t think it was going to be a tie.”
Even with McCutcheon’s loss, Doherty said they will work together in the future.
“Doug and I have been talking, and he’s going to try to help me bring the community back together and advocate for the community,” said Doherty.
Once in office, the community’s new mayor will also seek to bring in economic investment to Canal Flats.
“I think the biggest challenge will be economic growth and making it more affordable for people to live in Canal Flats,” said Doherty. “We want to bring back a lot of businesses and we want them to grow with us as well.”
Doherty will be joined on village council by Justin Stanbury, Anora Kobza, Jennifer Noble, and Patricia Reed, all newcomers to chambers.
“I know everybody on council, they’re all very sharp people. They’re very community-minded and they all want to see Canal Flats come together and grow as a community,” said Doherty.