Jeers, cheers and tears were had at the Merritt civic centre on Oct. 20 as the city’s chief electoral officer delivered the unofficial results of the municipal election.

Regardless of whether or not your picks for mayor and council made it into office, there is one stat that should inspire some pride in all Merrittonians: voter turnout rose by about 10 per cent this year compared with 2014.

Nearly half of all eligible Merrittonians cast a ballot this election, compared with a percentage that has hovered around 30 for the past few cycles.

At first glance, it might seem a little pitiful to be celebrating the reality that more than half of the town still abdicated their civic duty, despite the increased opportunities to cast a ballot at advance polls in the lead up to Oct. 20. Really, unless one is out of the country for an extended period of time, there is really no reason not to show up at the polls if you’ve done your homework.

And as avid readers of this column and the Herald, I trust enough information about the candidates was accessible for those interested to make an informed decision.

Merritt opted to go with change, with only Kurt Christopherson returning to council as an incumbent. Linda Brown, a one-term councillor, has moved up to the role of mayor.

Christopherson and Brown will have their work cut out for them, educating relatively new councillors on city management. Tony Luck has experience as a councillor in Mission, but four elected officials are brand new in the role.

One thing that Neil Menard told me in our sit-down interview was that it was important for councillors to support each other, regardless of disagreements they might have politically.

In the same vein, the new council should receive some benefit of the doubt from citizens as they find their feet on their four year term. They were largely elected on a mandate of change, and should be offered the chance to do just that.

For those who voted — your work is not over. The task now is to find out whether your ballot was well-cast, and the best way to do that is to show up to a council meeting or two this term.