Jeff Knoll Elected Oakville's New Mayor

Oakville has a new mayor for the first time since 2006. Jeff Knoll won Monday night's municipal election, and the town clerk has since certified the results.

Knoll arrives in the job with more time at the council table than almost anyone there. He has represented Ward 5 since 2000, winning seven straight elections over 26 years, and that record was the whole of his pitch to voters. "What I offered this community is change without a learning curve," he said on election night.

The result ends Rob Burton's run of five terms as mayor. Burton came by Knoll's party at Film.Ca Cinemas to congratulate him in person. "I knew that tonight I would either be rehired or retired. And it looks like the people have decided that it was time for me to retire so they could hire you," Burton said, and he promised to help with the handover.

Midtown comes first

Knoll used his victory speech to send a message to the province about the Midtown development plan. "My first order of business is to deliver a message to Queen's Park that we're not interested in negotiating a solution for Midtown," he said. What he wants instead is the cancellation of the Minister's Zoning Orders and the return of OPA 70, the planning document Oakville wrote for itself, as the rule for that part of town.

Two other promises came up on election night. Knoll wants a lobbyist registry and the return of citizen advisory committees, so residents have a say between elections. He also plans to put his years as chair of the Halton Police Services Board toward crime prevention across Oakville.

He kept his tone warm about the mayor he beat. "This campaign wasn't about tearing anything down. It was about building it up, and that includes [Burton's] contributions to the community," Knoll said.