I went to the council chambers, where there is a plaque listing every councillor and mayor since Hinton's current inception as a Town in 1958 – after the amalgamation of Hinton and the Village of Drinnan in 1957 - and all the administrators between that time and when the New Town of Hinton was incorporated on Nov. 1, 1956.
It's an interesting list of who's who through the years. On that list I found that Hinton's first female mayor was Norma Burkett, who defeated incumbent Gordon Tocher in a close vote in fall 1983. Her tenure as mayor lasted only until early 1984 when she resigned amidst a cloud of controversy fuelled by a petition from the public. She was replaced in a byelection, ironically, by Hinton's only other female mayor, Jean Davidson. Davidson assumed the mayorship in 1984 and ran for re-election in 1986, this time as Jean Maurer. She served as mayor from 1986-1989.
With incumbent councillors Jane Macridis and Lorraine Johnston-MacKay both confirming they are seeking re-election as councillors, it means that there will be no woman representative currently on council seeking the mayorship. That doesn't mean a woman won't step forward on nomination day Sept. 23 and run for mayor, but with three candidates - current councillors Bill Bulger and Dale Currie, as well as local businessman Robert Mackin - already announcing their intention to run for the big chair, it doesn't seem likely.
According to the plaque, here's a list of the most recently elected women on Hinton Town council dating back to 1998.
Chris Bell 1998 - 2001 (mayoral candidate 2010)
Judy Blakely 2001 - 2007
Calli Stromner 2001 - 2004
Jane Macridis 2007 - current (seeking re-election Oct. 21, 2013)
Lorraine Johnston-MacKay 2012 - current (seeking re-election Oct. 21, 2013)
Janice Callihoo 2010 - 2013
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