Ken Hook Acclaimed As Reeve Of Addington Highlands

Ken Hook Acclaimed As Reeve Of Addington Highlands As Kirby Thompson Seeks To Return as Denbigh Councillor

As the deadline for nominations for October’s election approached, Kirby Thompson changed his candidacy, and just like that, Ken Hook will be the next Reeve of the township.

Candidates had until 2pm to submit their nominations, and 2pm was also the deadline for already registered candidates to change the office they are seeking. Candidates can withdraw their nomination, and submit a new one right up until the deadline, and they can re-use the signatures that they submitted for the first nomination.

This rule allows candidates who submit their nomination early, to react to the impact of last-minute nominations on the race. Thompson came into the township office on Friday afternoon, withdrew his candidacy for reeve, and resubmitted for the position he currently holds, councillor for Ward 1.

When contacted, Kirby Thompson said that when Ken Hook came into the race in early August, he began to reconsider.

“I asked around before I decided to run for Reeve, and at that time none of the other members of council were planning to run, and I thought that it was better for someone with experience to do that job, which is part of why I ran,” he said.

“When it came down to it, my heart wasn’t quite in it, so I thought I would be better off working for my community members, as councillor in Ward 1. I was willing to do it, and I think I would have been good at it, but I also think it is harder to win an election for reeve from Ward 1 because of the population difference.

“The reeve is an important role, but all decisions are made by Council”

When contacted, Ken Hook said that he had been considering not running this time around, but, “at the Flinton Festival so many people came up to me and said they thought I should run, that I decided that I would run after all.”

This will be Ken Hook’s second stint as Reeve. He served in the role between 2004 and 2006.

With the change, there is now a four-way race for the two Denbigh council positions. Kirby Thompson is running for re-election, and Maurice Leveille, who was appointed in February to serve out the term when Tony Fritsch became the reeve (Former Reeve Henry Hogg died in office in November of 2025).

Royce Rosenblath, who finished in third place in 2022, 9 votes behind Thompson, is running again.

Dave Graham, a member of the Addington Highlands Public Works Department, has taken a leave of absence in order to run. This makes it a four-way race for the two spots.

In addition to the acclamation for Ken Hook as reeve, there were acclamations in Ward 2. Long serving councillor Helen Yanch is returning, and newcomer Rodger Holden has been acclaimed to council as well. Karen McGregor was acclaimed as Limestone School Board representative.