Representing East Kent (Ward 3), Moréna McDonald has been sworn in as a Chatham-Kent councillor.
The ceremony was held Monday ahead of the evening’s council meeting at the John D Bradley Convention Centre.
McDonald’s first council meeting had a number of contentious issues, such as approving a flag policy, backyard chicken pilot project and having council taking a look at ward boundaries across the municipality.
“It was great. I know it was long and a lot happened, but it was really good to just jump right in and see how things go and then listen to the conversations that the other councillors were having and the deputations too that the public gave,” McDonald said of her first council meeting.
Coming in halfway through the term, McDonald said she wants to do as much as she can as she is looking at learning a lot in a short time to get up to speed.
“For me one of my major things is downtown revitalization. Anything that I can do to help small businesses, particularly in the smaller towns, hopefully I can do even just a little bit to help,” McDonald said.
Another area she wants to focus on is youth engagement.
She replaces former Councillor Steve Pinsonneault, who recently left municipal politics after being elected as the MPP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex.
McDonald council voted in favour of appointing McDonald to the position, rather than hold a by-election. McDonald was the third place candidate and runner up in East Kent during the 2022 municipal election.