A little more than a week after the Oct. 18 municipal election, mayor and council were sworn into office Monday evening.

Inside council chambers, the ceremony saw the new council take the oath of office and begin their roles for a new, three-year term of council.

Re-elected to their positions were Mayor Dan Curtis along with councillors Dan Boyd, Jocelyn Curteanu and Samson Hartland.

Former councillor Jan Stick is also returning to chambers after finishing up her last term in 2009 before serving as an NDP MLA for two terms.

Councillors Steve Roddick and Laura Cabott were elected to their first terms.

The ceremony began with an honour guard of three firefighters leading the procession into council chambers with the city’s senior managers standing at the side.

Pat Ross, who works as the manager of land and building services, was next to enter council chambers as part of the procession, playing the bagpipes to lead in the new council.

Chambers were filled with family members and friends of the council members.

Also on hand were MLAs of all political stripes. They included NDP MLA Kate White and the Yukon Party’s Geraldine Van Bibber who sat together, chatting before the ceremony got underway.

Others, such as Community Services Minister John Streicker, a former councillor, were also in the gallery, many standing at the side.

Family and friends stood to take photos as each member took his or her Oath of Office.

The new council took their places – left to right, Hartland, Stick, Cabott, Curtis, Roddick, Boyd and Curteanu – in front of their seats at the council table.

Catherine Constable, who works as the city’s manager of legislative services, oversaw the ceremony.

Constable introduced each member of council before Justice of the Peace Stephen Smyth called each member forward to individually take his or her Oath of Office before they declared together the Oath of Allegiance and the Oath of Athens.

It is in the Oath of Athens that they vowed “we will transmit this city not only not less, but greater, better and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us.”

Paperwork was signed, with Curtis then donning the city’s Chain of Office. Constable then formally presented the new city council for the city.

Cheers and applause erupted in the gallery.

Council members took their seats at the table to vote on their first order of business: voting on appointments for members to serve as deputy mayor and deputy reserve mayor as well as committees.

Making his welcome speech, Curtis first recognized the traditional land of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Ta’an Kwäch’än Council.

He also acknowledged the presence of numerous MLAs in the gallery before thanking his wife and family for their support.

Speaking about the Chain of Office, the third-term mayor said it’s designed to be of significant weight as a symbol of holding up the community.

With seven members at the table, each bringing his or her own skill set and experience, it’s not a significant weight, he said.

For Curtis, the Chain of Office has a personal connection, and having his brother Mike at last night’s ceremony made that especially evident.

The chain was given to the city by Whitehorse Copper – which formerly operated a mine here – in 1982, the year the mine closed.

Curtis’ father worked there for many years. It was in the same year the chain was made and donated to the city that his father passed away.

Wearing the Chain of Office, Curtis said: “It feels pretty special and it feels pretty light.”

He then went on to note the city’s thanks to the three former councillors not returning to this term. They are Rob Fendrick, who did not seek re-election as he plans to retire in Carcross, and Betty Irwin and Roslyn Woodcock who were defeated in the Oct. 18 vote.

“They have made our city a better place,” Curtis said of his former colleagues. He then went on to focus on the next three years when this council will serve.

He highlighted the mix of experience each member brings to council, stating the city will benefit from their contributions as efforts continue to seek input and listen to the public on many issues.

“This is a tremendous team of individuals,” he said.

With that, the meeting was formally adjourned.

A reception followed, with council members being greeted and congratulated by family and friends.

For Stick, last night’s session marked a return to public office after she was defeated in the November 2016 territorial election by the Liberals’ Tracy-Anne McPhee.

In the municipal election, Stick earned the highest number of votes (3,946) of anyone who ran in the election.

“It feels great,” she said of being back inside chambers, adding she’s “pumped” to get to work on city issues.

At the same time, she said, she was missing some of the old faces.

She is pleased to be sitting in the same spot once occupied by Florence Roberts, a former councillor who died in 2017.

Council members selected their seats during orientation sessions held over the weekend.

They focused on learning city processes and tours of city facilities and buildings, including the new operations building that’s under construction off Range Road.

“It’s jaw-dropping,” Stick said.

Moving forward, she said, there’s a lot for council to deal with in the coming months.

The agenda includes the city’s 2019 budget, a November board meeting of the Association of Yukon Communities and the strategic plan.

“My dance card is full,” Stick, who co-owns a small local business, said with a laugh.

Cabott, a lawyer who is new to the role of councillor, also highlighted the upcoming work of the budget and strategic plan.

She and, it seems, other members of the new council are interested in dealing with a number of issues that came up during the election campaign, she said.

“We are anxious to get to work,” she said.

Curteanu, now in her third term as a councillor, is also ready to begin the work that a new term brings.

“I’m really excited,” she said.

She described the weekend orientation session as a good opportunity to review the processes of council and see the facilities council makes decisions about (a process that she said reinforced the need for a new operations building).

She also pointed out that it marks the first chance for the new council to get together and get to know one another.

Curteanu was quick to note she believes the city population is well-represented by council, and she’s looking forward to what will be accomplished in the coming term.

With the indemnity increases approved by the previous council, members of the new council will earn just over $36,000 per year.

None of the four men Curtis defeated attended Monday’s ceremony.

See open letter to Curtis.