Vassilaki upsets Jakubeit for Penticton mayor

PENTICTON – Incumbent mayor Andrew Jakubeit has been upset by municipal political veteran John Vassilaki.

The preliminary results are in and Vassilaki handily beat all comers, including Jakubeit who was looking for his second term in office.

Vassilaki grabbed the most votes with 5,144, Jason Cox was next with 2,621, followed by Jakubeit with 2,564, Blake James with 312, Dominic Wheeler with 76 and Jukka Laurio with 41.

The six candidate race has, through the election, generally been conceded in reality to be a three-way contest between Jakubeit and Penticton businessmen Jason Cox and John Vassilaki.

Vassilaki called the results "overwhleming," adding his son said tonight, "Dad, for the next four years you're not going to be John Vassilaki anymore, you're going to be speaking out for 34,000 people."

He immediately extended an olive branch to his nearest competitors, incumbent Jakubeit and Cox, saying he would be reaching out to them for help and advice in the coming weeks.

"You don't know how thrilled I am to have this honour of serving again, after four years being off city council," Vassilaki said.

An obviously dejected Jakubeit said he was surprised and disappointed by the results. He attributed the vote to "an older demographic" based on the mayor and council candidates who were elected.

"It was unfortunate because a lot of things that we put in place with engagement, the parks protection policy, sort of rectified those things, but for a lot of people… they just don't want to let go. It's frustrating, it's disappointing, but that's politics," Jakubeit said.

ELECTION RESULTS (preliminary):

MAYORAL CANDIDATES:

John Vassilaki 5,144

Jason Cox 2,621

Andrew Jakubeit 2,564

Blake James 312

Dominic Wheeler 76

Jukka Laurio 41

COUNCIL CANDIDATES:

Jake Kimberley 4,909

Campbell Watt 4,566

Frank Regehr 4,486

Julius Bloomfield 3,449

Katie Robinson 3,101

Judy Sentes 2,772

SCHOOL TRUSTEES ELECT:

Shelley Clarke 4,599

Tracy Van Raes 4,156

Barbara Sheppard 3,762

James Palanio 3,503

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