Guelph/Eramosa mayor elected as new county warden

WELLINGTON COUNTY — Chris White has been elected the new county warden after a nearly-decade-long hiatus. 

At a special meeting of county council Friday morning, Chris White was elected as the new County of Wellington warden in a secret vote. For this method, county councillor votes are not revealed and ballots are destroyed post-meeting. 

Following a series of ballots where the least-voted candidate was eliminated from the running, White won against County Councillor Gregg Davidson in a 9-7 vote in the final contest. The other warden hopefuls included Shawn Watters, Diane Ballantyne and Mary Lloyd, who announced their intentions at last week's county council meeting. 

White replaces current Wellington North mayor Andy Lennox, who served as warden from 2022 to 2024. 

Typically serving two-year terms, county wardens act as the chair of county council meetings and serve as a member of all committees.  Wardens can seek another two-year term when there's another election midway through the four-year municipal term. 

The next warden election will occur in 2026, coinciding with the county council election. 

Serving as warden for two consecutive terms in 2010 and 2012, White has also served as the Guelph Eramosa mayor since 2006.

The current chair of the Grand River Conservation Authority Board, White is the past chair of the Rural Ontario Muncipal Association (ROMA), rural caucus of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) and the economic development and administration, finance and human resources committees. 

He has also been a member of the Wellington County O.P.P. detachment board, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health board and Western Ontario Warden’s Caucus. 

"I want to thank everyone for their votes and their confidence in me up here in the chair, it really is a truly humbling experience," said White, in his opening remarks. "It's an important position, it's a very important council ... I know there are great things coming." 

When asked what he's most looking forward to tackling in his new position, White said he intends to keep an eye on the tax dollar but believes it'll be a "steady as you go" situation. 

"The issue is the fact we have a very large infrastructure deficit and at the heart, we are roads and bridges," said White. "And those things are items we have to keep in mind so I'm looking forward to that."

Committee chairs were also chosen at the inaugural meeting, also chosen by a secret vote if there was more than one nominee. 

Those elected were:

• Earl Campbell will replace White as the new chair of the Administration, Finance and Human Resources Committee
• Jeff Duncan will return as chair of the Economic Development Committee
• Doug Breen beat Lloyd for chair of the Information, Heritage and Seniors Committee
• James Seeley will continue as the chair of the Planning and Land Division Committee, beating out Ballantyne and Dave Turton
• Gregg Davidson was re-elected as chair of the Roads Committee, winning against Ballantyne
• Steve O'Neill returns as the Solid Waste Services Committee chair
• Lennox will replace Campbell as the new chair of the Wellington County O.P.P. Detachment Board
• Dave Anderson will continue as the vice chair of the Joint Social Services and Land Ambulance, beating Lloyd

Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.