Dudas
proves second time's the charm in winning Innes Ward race
By Fred Sherwin
OrleansOnline.ca
It's
been four long years since Laura Dudas finished a heart-breaking
second to outgoing Innes Ward councillor Jody Mitic in
the 2014 municipal election. Since then, she has counted
the days until she might get a shot at redemption.
Her
time finally came Monday night when she beat out three
other candidates to replace Mitic who announced his retirement
for personal reasons last spring.
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Councillor-elect
Laura Dudas is surrounded by her family after winning the city council seat in Innes Ward 2. Jean-Marc Pacelli/Photo
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Make
no mistake about it, Dudas' win was emphatic. She captured
over 41 per cent of the vote against a quality field that
included one-time office assistant to former Innes Ward
councillor Rainer Bloess, Donna Leith-Gudbranson who came
in second with 28 per cent of the vote; 2014 third place
finisher Fran�ois Tr�panier who once again could do no
better than third place with 18.5 per cent of the vote;
and former office assistant to Jody Mitic Tammy Lynch,
who placed fourth with 12 per cent.
Dudas
capitalized on her past campaign experience and her tenure
as the former president of the Blackburn Community Association.
She is also a long-time city staffer, having worked in
the communications department.
During
her excepting speech at the Blackburn Arms Pub, Dudas
thank all her supporters and volunteers for helping to
put her over the top.
"I
want to thank everyone for showing their support in me
and trusting me to take your priorities to City Hall,�
Dudas said to loud cheers from the crowd. "And I also
couldn't have done this without all the incredible volunteers
on my team who believed in me from day one. I want to
thank you so much. If it wasn't for them we wouldn't be
here tonight.�
Dudas
said she doeen't to wait for her swearing-in ceremony
on Dec. 1 to start making a difference.
"I
can't wait to get to work. I can't wait to see results
for our community. Whether it's the road infrastructure
we need or the ecnomic development and jobs for the east
went... I can't wait to get started,� said Dudas, who
doesn't plan to take any time off. "There
is so much to do. Four years is such a short time.�
As
for her campaign platform and the prospects of achieving
concrete results, Dudas says she has a plan to accomplish
everything she has promised to do.
"You
know there's nothing that I promised that I won't be sticking
to and bringing to fruition,� Dudas said after her acceptance
speech. "I want to achieve tangible results in our area,
whether it's the infrastructure we need, whether it's
improvements to public transit, or whether it's bringing
jobs and businesses to the east end. I have a plan to
for how to do all those things and I can't wait to get
to work.�
Dudas
was part of a movement that saw three female newcomers
elected to city council, bringing the total number of
women serving on the body to seven.
(This story
was made possible thanks to the generous support of our
local business partners.)
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