It was an emotional night at Fredericton City Hall as the capital’s longest-serving mayor attended his last regular council meeting.
Brad Woodside was defeated by Deputy Mayor Mike O’Brien by 1,170 votes in Monday’s municipal election.
Council chambers gave Woodside a standing ovation during Tuesday’s meeting.
“The people of Fredericton got it right. It was time,” Woodside said to reporters afterwards.
“The only way to get away from this place is to have people vote you out, and they did that, and I thank them for that because I’m going to have a bit of a break and a bit of a rest.”
Several councillors at the meeting commended Woodside for his nearly 30 years of service in municipal politics, which included two terms as a councillor before becoming mayor in 1986.
Woodside resigned in 1999 to run for provincial politics, but returned to the mayor’s seat in 2004.
“I will definitely never run for office again,” said Woodside.
“I feel liberated right now. I feel the freedom and the only way I could ever get that feeling is to get out of City Hall, so I think the people were right.”
Fredericton's next mayor and council will be sworn in on May 24.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Nick Moore
