By James Matthews

No matter how the vote shakes out, Haliburton County will have a new warden by the time this is read.

Results of the Dec. 10 election were not available as of press time, so complete coverage with results of the election will be in next week’s papers. During an early evening meeting of council, Dave Burton was selected as this year’s County Council warden. 

The upper tier council chose between Highlands East Mayor Burton, who was the deputy warden, and Minden Hills Mayor Bob Carter for the top spot.

Burton was nominated by Algonquin Highlands Mayor Liz Danielsen, who was the outgoing warden, and Dysart Mayor Murray Fearrey.

Carter was tapped to be a choice by Minden Hills Deputy Mayor Lisa Schell and Algonquin Highlands Deputy Mayor Jennifer Dailloux.

Danielsen was last chosen to helm the county’s council during a vote in December 2023. She won the position then over Carter.

That last term in the Big Chair was her sixth term and a county record for wardens.

Much was accomplished by council in the last year.

Arguably at the top of the achievements was the regulation of the short-term rental accommodations market. A corporate entity was created as part of that to turn some of the taxes generated through STRs into benefits for the local tourism industry.

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