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history major at Queen's; University, defeated incumbent councillor Jim Whitton for the ' reeve's job. Mr. Whitton is a pro- fessor of physics at Queen's. It was , suggested to Mr. Willard that he 1 had "kicked butt" in the contest. 1 teferring to the slender 167-150' "A very light kick," he grinned, , victory margin in the voting. His decision to run for the top ' spot was strictly his own, "just as it was my own to run for councillor in 1988, " the slim, fifth-generation ' islander said in an interview. He encountered a little resistence " from his family when he made his _ - opening move in 1988, but no one . . oifered any objections this time, ' he said. Nor was their any rivalry or ' animosity between him and Mr. Whitton. "We just both decided to run. ' There's only the odd thing that's come between us occasionally, ' when we've voted against one an- other. But we generally agree on things and we' ye never gone for each other' 5 throat. " Election night can be a pretty tense experience down at election central -- the old town hall. But not for Steven ,Will'ard. He didn't even show up. "1 stayed-home," he said. "I had to work on an essay." ' He had appointed his aunt, Do-. I] ' rothy'McGinn, to attend the vote- 3 counting exercises in his place; But ; even alter the outcome became : clear, the winner didn't learn or it 1 until Mrs. McGinn brought him the ; glad tidings, in person. "She came to the house, walked in and said 'Congratulations, 1you're the reeve.' I' asked her by how much? Then 'I started asking . her who else'had made it [into council seats.]" The son of Amherst Island ferry captain Earle Willard and his wife, speech therapist Donna Willard, Steven has lived all his life here, attending elementary school on the island and high school in Na- panee. He has a brother Christopher, 31, of Harrowsmith and a sister, Laurie, 25, who lives in Kingston. He is considering a career in teaching, but may eventually de- ' cide on law; school. He is also "not ' averse to" continuing hispolltical activity, possibly even in the pro- ' vincial or federal arenas. "That is, ' if'the party would have me," he says. ' The party, in this case, is the Progressive Conservatives, of which he is a card-carrying mem- ber at both provincial and federal riding association levels. Could these interests have any influence on his new municipal Hob? "Not very much,- maybe a 11131 ' judge to the right, no big t n ' "I know we Conservatives are . not very popular right now," he said. "But I still support Mr. Mulro- 1ney.'I'm still with him in his trials. I ' know I'm one of the few." For the record, he alsoisuppgrts ,the tree-trade agreement'iand even the CST. "I support it ins )far 1 as it is possible to support a tax in- : crease. Ithink it_ was necessary " ' One of his main interests in the, township is to assure that its devel- opment proceeds in 'an orderly way. "I'd like to make sure that 'Amherst Island stays Amherst .Island, and that it gets the right sort of development. We have a -very stable community here, and that's good. But it does take a spe- : cial kind of person to liv- 13,1101 the sort who get all excite about 1 our nice summers but maybe can't take the ferry troubles that s e- tlmes make for four- hour oat trips in winter. We are cutoff from 1the mainland and you have to ' accept that there' 5 nothing you can 1 do about it. " He will continue to de- clare conflicts of interest when- , ever wage negotiations for the 20-member island ferry crew comes before council. As a ferry captain, his father is a township emplOyee. , ~- Concerning the relationship 1 : home, the incoming racy? "We have a tacit agreemen him what I'd tell any citize he doesn t want to know, and doesn't need to know. He' 5 another islander " Doug Perry, who spent 27 years .as a municipal official in Lennox and Addington and Prince Edward counties, sends his mug??? tions. "I'm really glad to see £13; s-Wfi} '1 badly need a good mix of the ages, . lqualiiications and the back- lgrounds." ' "All too often, our young people [are too apathetic about getting 1 involved Or they are too economi- cally occupied just trying to keep their heads above the financial waters. So good for Stév'en. Con- lgratulations to him. It' 5 great to see hi'm'do it " ' Retiring Brockville mayor Clark's secretary Wilma Spracklin - notes that her boss has been writ- ten up in the publication known as Who's Who?, a directory of re- nownedcelebrities and'famous deeds. ' Move over, Mayor Clark. '1 "Here'comes Reeve Willard.