Municipalasaurus Rex

Hillier accorded long service award for 16 years at CBS council

By Craig Westcott

Arguably the most energetic member of CBS council is also the longest serving and was singled out for that latter distinction before the start of a public council meeting last month.

Rex Hillier has been a member of council, off and on, since the early 1990s, and as of last month had punched a total of 16 years in the role.

In addition to his time on council, Hillier, now retired, has enjoyed a long career as a teacher, earned many accolades in his younger years as an elite athlete and in more recent years has been a tireless volunteer with the Anglican Parish of St. John the Baptist in Topsail. Hillier has also served as a Member of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly for the district of Conception Bay South. Even that job didn’t manage to dampen his graciousness or sense of humour.

After a short introduction by Mayor Darrin Bent, Hillier was presented with a long service plaque from Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador for his 16 years of work as a councillor.

“I want to thank our staff and mayor for taking the time to put this nomination forward,” said Hillier. “When you start something like this (running for council), you don’t know where it’s going to end up. When you start out, obviously you wouldn’t say, ‘I’m going to serve 16 years and that’s going to end, and those 16 years will take me up to 2024. It didn’t start like that, and obviously it may not finish like that – hopefully it won’t finish like that. But you remember a bunch of things – the events that have taken place, the infrastructure that we’ve put in place over that time, and certainly the people that you’ve met, the residents you’ve met on site at their driveways, looking down in ditches with concerns about flooding and traffic and all those sorts of things.”

Hillier said the staff and councillors whom he has worked with through the years are also part of those memories.

“So, thank you very much, and we’ll see where this road takes us,” Hillier said, offering a broad indication that he plans to run for re-election next year.

Mayor Bent thanked Hillier for his 16 years of work on council and congratulated him on the award. “It’s well deserved,” he said.

Councillor-at-Large Rex Hillier, left, recently received a certificate recognizing his 16 years of municipal service from Mayor Darrin Bent, who presented it on behalf of Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador. Craig Westcott photo