Oakville Councillor Jeff Knoll has a new position with the Canadian Association of Police Governance. FACEBOOK PHOTO
Oakville has elected a new mayor after longtime Ward 5 Coun. Jeff Knoll won against incumbent Rob Burton in Monday’s municipal election, marking the end of Burton’s leadership that started in 2006.
Knoll secured 18,680 votes, which is 36.74 percent of the total, placing ahead of fellow councillor Sean O’Meara, who garnered 11,469 votes (22.56 percent). Burton came in third with 10,236 votes (20.13 percent).
Business owner Julia Hanna collected 8,914 votes (17.53 percent), while Arvind Choudhary received 1,541 votes (3.03 percent).
Knoll’s win signifies a major shift at Oakville Town Hall, where Burton had been mayor for five consecutive terms. Having first joined council in 2000, Knoll brings 26 years of municipal experience to his new role.
His campaign emphasized managing Oakville’s growth while preserving the town’s character, expanding housing options, enhancing infrastructure and ensuring fiscal responsibility.
The mayoral race was one of the most closely monitored contests in Oakville’s municipal election cycle, featuring two sitting councillors vying for the position along with Hanna making her third attempt at becoming mayor.
O’Meara from Ward 1 and Knoll both risked their council seats to pursue the top job in town. Their campaigns provided voters with alternatives to Burton’s long-standing leadership.
Hanna nearly unseated Burton in 2022 when he received 19,949 votes compared to her 19,063 – just an 886-vote difference. She also challenged him in 2018.
This time around though, Knoll clearly took charge by finishing ahead of Burton by a margin of 8,444 votes.
In this next term, Oakville will need to tackle several key decisions regarding how to support new housing and jobs while handling growth costs. Issues such as development plans for Midtown area properties and traffic congestion were hot topics during the campaign debates.
Knoll has stressed that it’s crucial to balance development with maintaining community character and ensuring taxpayer value from municipal spending.
The election also means changes on council beyond just the mayor’s role; six out of Oakville’s fourteen ward council positions are expected to have new representatives.
The newly elected mayor and council now face the task of guiding Oakville over the next four years as they make decisions about development priorities and investment in infrastructure along with essential resident services.
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