New councillor for Hastings Highlands

Hastings Highlands Mayor Vivian Bloom welcomes Councillor Frank Hickey to council after he is sworn in Sept. 6. / SARAH SOBANSKI Staff

Hastings Highlands council has welcomed Councillor Frank Hickey to its table.

Hickey was sworn in Sept. 6. It's his second time as a councillor for the municipality.

Hickey served his first term with council after he was elected for Ward 1 in 2010. He lost his seat by a narrow gap to former councillor Bert Cannon in the leadership race of 2014.

Hickey takes Cannon's place as the runner up in Ward 1 after Cannon's passing last month. He will serve until the 2018 election when he plans to run again.

“Bert [was] well liked,” said Hickey, sitting down with Bancroft This Week the morning following his first official meeting as a councillor this term.

At council Hickey said he wanted to do as good a job as Cannon.

“I knew him well. We grew up together,” he added.

Hickey also went to high school with Councillor Hald Robinson. His mother and late former councillor Mike Leveques's mother were also sisters. He's no stranger to the area, having lived here for most of his life. He's had a chance to be an avid volunteer helping raise more than $12,000 for Bancroft's Alzheimer society, being a member of recently dissolved charity Community Care North Hastings and showing up weekly for Maynooth Public School's breakfast program.

Today, Hickey resides on Lake St. Peter. He said he doesn't have any big plans for council yet. He suggested council has done a good job this term so far and he'd like to catch up and settle in before anything else.