Mayor Ed Holder delivers his inaugural address at the London Convention Centre after beings sworn in as London's 64th mayor, December 3, 2018. (Photo by Miranda Chant, Blackburn News)

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Ed Holder has officially taken over the reins at city hall.

London’s 64th mayor was sworn in at the inaugural meeting of the 2018-2022 city council at the London Convention Centre Monday night.

“I’ve got a strong council, a strong team, and we have a great administration in London. I am absolutely looking forward to moving London forward,” declared Holder.

Staying true to commitments outlined during his election campaign, Holder stressed that the three main priorities of the new council will be jobs and the economy, transportation, and taking care of London’s most vulnerable.

“All of council agrees, these issues, while broad, are important for London’s sake,” said Holder. “You might even take the issue around jobs and if you want to keep taxes low and be able to provide the services necessary to take care of London’s most vulnerable, then what you need to do is have a broad tax base, corporate as well as residential. By increasing job opportunities and good paying jobs for Londoners, that just helps the dynamic in terms of taking care of Londoners.”

Holder has been clear he is not a supporter of the existing bus rapid transit (BRT) plan, but does feel action must be taken to improve transit and ease rush-hour gridlock throughout the city.

“With regard to transportation, some of us have some various views on what that should look like, but all councillors agree that it is critical that we do a better job of moving Londoners to work and back, to school and back, and to play and back on time and safely,” said Holder. “There are different ways we may consider in terms of how to get there, but the commitment is very strong and very clear.”

The multi-year budget process, first introduced by the previous city council under Matt Brown, is a practice Holder anticipates will continue under his watch. He has already discussed the value of the four-year fiscal blueprint with City Manager Martin Hayward, returning council members, and former councillors.

“There is a strong sense, even with the four-year timing, that there is sufficient flexibility annually to take care of needs as they occur,” said Holder. “From that standpoint, I initially had some questions around it but the questions are being answered to my satisfaction.”

Since the October 22 election, Holder, a Western University graduate and former Conservative MP for London West, has met with each member of the new council, city administration, and members of both the federal and provincial governments. He pointed out these conversations were important to ensure he could “hit the ground running” once the new council was sworn in Monday. Holder worked out of a temporary office at city hall during his time as mayor-elect, but has since moved into the mayor’s office on the second floor of 300 Dufferin Ave.

“The mayor’s office door is open. If people need to see me, that access will always be there,” said Holder, who proudly announced he has already had four people sign his guest book.

“It is often asked what can council, what can the mayor do for the City of London and to quote a politician who preceded me by some decades, sometimes it really is looking the other way and saying ‘how can we all help each other to make London a better city and that is the challenge I put out there in the most thoughtful way – let’s do it together,” said Holder.

In addition to Holder, London’s new city council is made up of eight incumbents (Phil Squire, Josh Morgan, Jesse Helmer, Anna Hopkins, Maureen Cassidy, Stephen Turner, Mo Salih, and Michael Van Holst), five newcomers (Steve Hillier, Elizabeth Peloza, Steve Lehman, Shawn Lewis, and Arielle Kayabaga), and one councillor who is making his return to council after being defeated in 2014 (Paul VanMeerbergen).

All were sworn in at Monday’s meeting, which was attended by roughly 700 people. Former London mayors Matt Brown, Joe Fontana, and Anne Marie DeCicco-Best were among those in attendance. Co-Executive Director of the London Food Bank and former MP Glen Pearson delivered the investiture of the mayor’s chain of office.

Councillor Helmer was appointed deputy mayor by Holder in a motion that passed 13 to 2. Only Councillors VanMeerbergen and Hillier voted against the appointment. Helmer will serve as deputy mayor until November 30, 2020.