Altona's mayor-elect is anxious to see the make up of town council after the October 24 civic elections.

Al Friesen was elected by acclamation last week and will succeed Melvin Klassen as the head of council.

Friesen has served as a town councillor for one term and was the only candidate running for mayor in this election.

"For me, becoming mayor by acclamation means a number of things. One is 'thanks for the vote of confidence.' The fact that we have ten people running for council hopefully means that they all felt that they could have a working relationship with me and were encouraged by that as well."

Friesen is encouraged by the fact that there are ten candidates running for the six council seats.

There are three councillors running for re-election and seven new candidates.

Friesen said he's confident there will be a good mix of ideas when the new council is formed.

"We have those who were part of council and we have those who are at different stages of their careers and life, we have male and female, we have people that are business owners and we have people that are wage earners and I think that's all very encouraging. The big thing to remember is that these people have chosen to contribute to the future of their community and they cared enough to say 'yes.'"

In the 2014 municipal vote there were no elections for mayor or council due to a lack of candidates, and one person from the community had to be appointed as a councillor in order to fill all six positions.

Friesen suggested that the larger number of candidates this time around might be indicative of a renewed interest in local politics among the electorate.

"I think it shows a sense of engagement, so we'll have to see what the voter turnout will be on election day. My hope would be that these ten candidates would translate into a higher percentage of people actually voting."

Residents in Altona will make their choice on Wednesday, October 24th.