After the examina­tion and confirmation of his credentials, Saba Fire Chief Julio Every was sworn in as the island’s newest Island Council Member on Tues­day afternoon by Governor Jonathan Johnson in front of Island Registrar Akilah Levenstone and members of the Island and Executive Councils.

Every will represent Party for Progress, Equality and Prosperity (PEP) on the five-person Island Council. He replaces PEP Island Council Member Hemmie van Xanten, who stepped down for personal and fam­ily reasons.

Van Xanten has been notably absent in Island Council meetings since be­ing re-elected in March. Born and raised in Saba, Every has been a member of the Fire Department since 1999. He has risen through the ranks to be­come Saba’s Fire Chief, a position he will simultane­ously fulfil while being an Island Council Member. During his speech on Tues­day, Every thanked the vot­ers, Van Xanten, and PEP. He said he will promote bipartisanship and will not only blindly oppose the rul­ing Windward Islands Peo­ple’s Movement (WIPM).

Every also said he has no qualms about “shaking things up” if called to do so, and that he aims to main­tain “openness and trans­parency”.

Every was not next-in-line to represent PEP after Van Xanten’s resignation. This position fell to PEP num­ber three candidate Roland Holm, but he turned down the seat due to health rea­sons. This made the seat avail­able for number four can­didate Every, who received 33 votes in the election earlier this year. This was seven more than Van Xant­en and 10.2% of PEP’s 324 total votes.

Saba’s Island Council com­prises two PEP members and three from WIPM, which forms the government.

The Daily Herald.