At the Dec. 13, 2023 Inaugural Meeting, County Council elected their warden and deputy warden for the year 2024. County council elected John Wise, reeve of the Township of Stone Mills as Warden and Nathan Townend, deputy mayor of Loyalist Township as deputy warden.
The Warden’s Declaration of Office was administered by Judge Geoff Griffin. Wise served as deputy warden in 2023 and this is his first time serving as warden.
Wise has served on Stone Mills Township Council since 1998. In 2016, John was appointed deputy reeve of the Township after the passing of Reeve Clarence Kennedy and was acclaimed as Reeve in 2022. Wise has served as a member of county council since 2016 and participated on the Prince Edward-Lennox and Addington Social Services Committee and on the board of Kingston Frontenac Lennox & Addington Public Health. He and his partner Anita live in Centreville.
Deputy warden Townend began as a councillor on Loyalist Township Council in 2018 and was elected deputy mayor in 2022. Townend began serving on county council as the alternate for Ric Bresee in the latter half of 2022, following Bresee’s election as MPP for Hastings, Lennox and Addington. This is Townend’s first time serving as deputy warden. As a member of county council he is currently a member the board of KFLA Public Health and is actively involved in the anticipated merger of a number of local health units. Townend is also a farmer, raising purebred Jersey cows on Amherst Island where he lives with his beloved partner, Peggy.
In his inaugural address, Wise thanked fellow councillors for their support and spoke of the importance of serving the needs of L&A residents and community.
“The first sentence in the guiding principles of our strategic plan, simply states: we exist to serve the public.” He added, “Let that continue to be the fundamental attitude we bring to all our discussions, and through open minded, frank and well informed deliberation, make decisions that truly fulfill that service ideal.”