Voters in Courtenay had 16 people to choose from when they went to the ballot box, and they've kept four incumbents on council.
Manno Theos was the top-vote getter, earning 3,156 votes.
In a statement, Theos — who has served nine years in total on city council — expressed gratitude to Courtenay residents.
"Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day and giving myself and all the other hard-working candidates the privilege of your vote," he wrote. "We are fortunate enough to live in such an amazing city with incredibly kind and respectful residents. I am honoured to represent you and I will continue to work hard on your behalf with passion and respect."
Jon Ambler received the second-highest vote total. He will serve a second term on council after receiving 2,707 votes.
"I'm very happy to be back," he said.
In the days before the election, Ambler's campaign received a lot of media attention when a neighbour protested the placement of his election signs.
"It was a hard-fought campaign, absolutely, but the sign issue is what I would call the tempest in the teapot, there's no doubt," Ambler said.
After the story about the signs ran in local newspapers, many people phoned Ambler or saw him in person and said what Brian Copeland was doing was wrong and said they would vote for Ambler, he said.
"I'd say that whole sign issue probably resulted in more votes for me," Ambler noted.
Starr Winchester, who served 18 years as councillor and mayor, received 2,583 votes to return to municipal politics after a three-year absence.
Ronna-Rae Leonard will serve for a third term after receiving 2,410 votes, while Doug Hillian returns for a second term after earning 2,142 votes.
The sixth seat around the council table goes to Bill Anglin, who was elected with 1,923 votes. Anglin stepped away from his position as vice-chair of the Comox Valley Chamber of Commerce to take his first run at a council seat.
This year, two seats opened up when Murray Presley decided not to run again after 15 years on council and Larry Jangula gave up his seat to run successfully for mayor.
In total, 5,301 people voted in Courtenay. That's only 28.9 per cent of the 18,368 eligible voters in the city.
Courtenay's voter turnout — more than 10 per cent lower than both Comox and Cumberland, at 41.2 and 41.3 per cent, respectively — was slightly lower than the provincewide turnout of 29.51 per cent.
e-Manno Theos 3156
e-Jon Ambler 2707
e-Starr Winchester 2583
e-Ronna-Rae Leonard 2410
e-Doug Hillian 2142
e-Bill Anglin 1923
Marcus Felgenhauer 1557
Mark Middleton 1515
Dave Smith 1404
Jean Rowe 1357
Erik Eriksson 1264
Norm Reynolds 1248
John Van Egmond 1198
Doug Kerr 1027
George Knox 652
Stu MacInnis 588
writer@comoxvalleyrecord.com