Taha Attiah has been elected mayor of Revelstoke, defeating incumbent Gary Sulz in Saturday’s municipal election.
Attiah received 1,338 votes, or 41.4 per cent, finishing 167 votes ahead of Sulz. Former councillor Tim Palmer finished third with 620 votes, or 19.2 per cent.
Joining Attiah on council are Robyn Goldsmith, Brenda Demone, Sarah Erikson, Lee Devlin, Austin Luciow and Aaron Orlando.
Attiah said he was “stunned and shocked” when he learned he had received the most votes.
“The evening was a bit of a waiting game … the last hour there were definitely some nerves and some anticipation of what was to come,” he said. “At first I was a little bit stunned and shocked; there was a lot of work to get to that outcome.”
He added that he was grateful for the residents of Revelstoke who voted in the election.
“I had some confidence that what I had been saying was resonating with the community and that I was getting good feedback,” he said. “But I also have a ton of respect for the work that our mayor and incumbent councillor who was running for mayor.”
Attiah said he hopes this won’t be the last time he hears from residents. “Even if people didn’t vote for me, I think just the amount of turnout was notable, and it was exciting to see that people were really engaged.”
He encouraged everyone to stay engaged and look for opportunities that he is looking to expand over the next four years.
As for his campaign, his top priority is non-taxation visitor revenues. Attiah said that the first few steps will focus on setting targets they are hoping to achieve and getting some consensus among council about what it will look like.
“I think it’s more getting into the details of governance and implementation work, but it is important to recognize,” he said.
Attiah also acknowledged the work of the outgoing council and said he believes the new council can build on those efforts while setting more ambitious goals for Revelstoke.
