Ottawa commissioners race: Incumbents Eichelkraut, Pearson and Ganiere in the lead for seats joined by Barron

Incumbent Ottawa commissioners Wayne Eichelkraut, Marla Pearson and Thomas Ganiere are holding leads to retain their seats, and they’ll be joined by current Plan Commission Chairman Brent Barron if unofficial vote totals hold up.

Barron holds the fourth seat lead with 1,468, 214 more votes than incumbent Commissioner James Less.

“The people of Ottawa have spoken and put their faith in me to be one of our commissioners,” Barron said. “Hopefully, I can live up to their faith in me and make this a better Ottawa.”

Barron said he ran on creating a better Ottawa, and he looks forward to fulfilling that campaign promise.

He said while he won’t be instated until Tuesday, May 2, the job starts Wednesday: The commissioners-elect and mayor-elect will have to sit down and figure out who oversees what department.

“Once we figure out where we’re going, I’m going to hopefully sit down with that department head and pick their brain,” Barron said. “When I get sworn in on May 2, hopefully I can hit the ground running.”

Trailing behind Less was Katie Troccoli, Joshua A. Moore, Matt Skelly, Clayton Brown, Dylan Conmy and Frank Miller, according to unofficial results.

Eichelkraut, a commissioner for the last 24 years, will keep his position among the council along with Ganiere and Pearson, as long as unofficial vote totals hold. Pearson was elected to the City Council in 2019, Ganiere was elected in 2015. Barron replaces Less, who was first appointed to the council before being elected to it in 2019.