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ARICHAT - A turnover launched by Richmond County voters in this fall's municipal election campaign was officially completed on Monday evening, as the county's five new councillors were officially sworn in to their new posts at the Richmond Municipal Building. 

Shortly afterwards, the newly-elected councillors chose the warden that will lead them through the next two years, as well as a deputy warden that will serve a one-year term. 

The new Richmond County Warden is Amanda Mombourquette, who now works at the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) Strait Area Campus as an innovation lead and was the executive director of the Strait Area Chamber of Commerce before taking the NSCC post last spring. Elected to Richmond's District Four in her first-ever political campaign, Mombourquette was chosen as warden over new District Three councillor Melanie Sampson, with the results determined by secret ballot.

Speaking to reporters following the swearing-in ceremony in Arichat, Mombourquette noted that she and her fellow councillors share such immediate priorities as the recruitment of new family doctors to the Strait area, the advancement of high-speed internet to all of Richmond County, and renewing of talks with the Town of Port Hawkesbury over providing fire service protection to the community of Point Tupper.

The latter issue took on added significance when the Port Hawkesbury Volunteer Fire Department voted in September to exit the Strait Area Mutual Aid Association at the end of December, meaning the current first responder for Point Tupper - the Louisdale and District Volunteer Fire Department - would not be able to count on nearby Port Hawkesbury to provide assistance in the event of an emergency call. 

Warden Mombourquette also noted that the new Richmond council is very "development-focused," a theme echoed by the county's new Deputy Warden, District Two councillor Michael Diggdon. A secret ballot vote confirmed Diggdon's victory over Sampson, who allowed her name to stand as a nominee for deputy warden as well as warden. 

Following the swearing-in ceremony, Diggdon predicted that economic and community development would make up a large component of the strategy that the new council will reveal to Richmond County residents over the coming weeks. 

In addition to Mombourquette, Diggdon and Sampson, District One councillor Shawn Samson and District Five councillor Brent Sampson were sworn in at the Arichat council chambers by Supreme Court Justice Laurel Halfpenny-MacQuarrie. The entire ceremony was carried live on Telile Community Television and simultaneously live-streamed to Telile's official YouTube channel.