Bill McCleary makes another run for mayor of Shawville

Bill McCleary makes another run for mayor of Shawville

Outgoing Shawville coucillor Bill McCleary is once again running for mayor of the municipality, four years after he lost to current Mayor Sandra Murray by a margin of 16 votes. He managed to regain a seat on council this past term in a by-election, following the passing of councillor Peggie Sheppard in 2018.

Following Murray announcing that she would not be seeking re-election due to health issues, McCleary will face off this election against fellow outgoing councillor Patti Moffatt.

McCleary has lived in the municipality for nearly 65 years and said that what he likes the most about it is that while being a rural area, it’s relatively close to the city and has most of the key amenities, like the hospital, schools and local businesses.

He said that the biggest accomplishment of council over the past four years was the investment that they had made in chlorination of the secondary water supply for the town, in conjunction with the replacement of several sections of the water tower. He said the renovations allow them to better control the amount of chlorine in town water and estimated that it cost roughly $500,000 all told.

Looking to the future, McCleary said that if he’s elected, he would do his best to push both the federal and provincial representatives to bring employment to the area.

The full interview with McCleary can be found here.