Mayor Christopher Causton was momentarily flummoxed as election results were handed out on Saturday night at Oak Bay municipal hall. The five-term mayor, standing at the back of the hall's foyer, was one of the last to be handed a print out of the final results by election officials. With Causton handily beating challenger Ronald Telfer, 4,519 votes to 365, attention was quickly drawn to who would join Causton on council. As reporters crowded around Causton, the mayor blinked in surprise at the results.

"This is incredibly tight - I haven't seen it bunched like this before, with the six really up there," he said pointing to ballot numbers that showed as little as a five-point spread between some elected councillors. And then the big surprise sunk in.

"I would have guessed and predicted that Chris Smith would have got on council," Causton said about the long-time Oak Bay resident. "There was one open spot (vacated by outgoing councillor Frank Carson), and (Tara) Ney not only took that spot but she came second overall - pretty surprising."

I don't know what it says about what people in Oak Bay are thinking," he said. "I'm not sure what that means, other than she she ran a good campaign and got her name out there."

That the son of former Oak Bay mayor Brian Smith was beaten by the daughter of former Nanaimo mayor Frank Ney was also a surprise to the winner.

"I was really quite shocked to tell you the truth," Tara Ney said on the phone from an after party at the Penny Farthing pub. "I thought I was sunk but I'm very pleasantly surprised."

Attributing her win to the hard work of the 10 members of her team, Ney said her platform of maintaining Oak Bay's ambiance while wanting to nudge forward the environmental agenda in this community also contributed to the win.

"I think people are very ready to move forward to building a sustainable, environmentally-responsible kind of community," Ney said.

Camosun college urban planning student Corey Burger, finished last among councillors with 1,167 votes. But Burger, 26, said he was just happy to have garnered more than 1,000 votes.

"People in Oak Bay aren't as homogenous as they think they are," said Burger who had gathered with Causton and incumbent councillor Allan Cassidy to hear results at municipal hall. "There are lot of young families in Oak Bay, but also a lot of older people who have the capacity for change, who believe a young person can bring a valuable voice to council."

Cassidy kept his seat on council, but only just. With 2,664 votes, Cassidy finished last among those elected – just 12 votes ahead of Chris Smith who had 2,652. Cassidy was pragmatic about his narrow win.

"When it comes to voting on issues (at council meetings) it doesn't matter how many votes you received on election night. Your one vote still counts (at meetings.)"

Nils Jensen, a Victoria crown prosecutor and social activist, grabbed the most councillor votes, 3,205, followed by Tara Ney with 3,084. Retired accountant John Herbert placed third with 2,928 votes. Fourth and fifth place were bunched closely together in votes. Pam Copley received 2,848, while Hazel Braithwaite received 2,843 votes. Michelle Kirby received 2,024 votes.

vmoreau@saanichnews.com