Ric Bresee, mayor of Loyalist Township, took the oath of office to serve as warden of Lennox and Addington County during the county’s Dec. 9 virtual meeting.
His term will last until December 2021.
Nominations for the position took place at the Nov. 18 meeting and Breese was acclaimed into the position. This will be his first time serving as the county warden.
Bresee was first elected to Loyalist Township council in December 2000 and served as deputy mayor from 2010 to 2018, when he was elected mayor. He has served on various Loyalist Township committees, including cemeteries, community policing, heritage and accessibility. From 2002-2010 he sat on the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority and was chair for the years 2002 to 2003. He was also a member of the Napanee Region Conservation Authority and currently serves on the Cataraqui Source Water Protection Committee.
As a member of Lennox and Addington County council for the past 10 years, Bresee has served on the Lennox and Addington County General Hospital Board and as Chair of the Prince Edward-Lennox and Addington Social Services Committee, the Economic Development Coalition and the Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee. He was also a provincial board member for the Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) from 2017-18.
Bresee and his wife Heidi live in Amherstview. They have raised five kids, and now have two grandchildren. Outside of municipal politics he has worked at St. Lawrence College for almost 20 years, starting as a part-time professor of Business and Economics and had numerous roles including sitting on the Board of Governors and culminating in a role as adaptive technologist, assessing and training college students with disabilities.
In his inaugural address Bresee indicated that he looks forward to working with county council and staff, as well as his colleagues on the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus.
“To all of you here on this council, and to all of residents… I will rely on you, to provide guidance, to bring your expertise, and to ask the tough questions, to do what you have always done, to bring your best so that together we can lead this county through 2021,” he stated.