Essex County Warden Tom Bain was celebrated for his 40-years in politics at the annual Warden's Banquet Friday night.
He is returning to county council but will not seek the warden's chair again and a number of dignitaries from the county along with local Members of Parliament and Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens were in attendance at Windsor's Ciociaro Club.
The night was about honouring Bain, but he tells CTV Windsor he was just a part of the team.
"All the members of county council, how supportive they've been, you look at our administration at the county, they've been so supportive," he says. "My theme throughout the past eight years has been teamwork and I don't think you can find a better team."
Bain says the leadership of a new warden is key in getting a couple of area projects over the finish line, including the new acute care hospital built in the city.
"I think that's something that we're going to have to continue to push for to make sure that hospital comes to fruition and the Hwy. 3 by-pass, we can't back off," he says.
He's comfortable with anyone on council taking over at the helm.
"We have some very talented mayors, deputy mayors, that can easily step in and do the job," says Bain. "I felt that this was a good time to back-off and yet I feel I can still be an influence there."
Both Kingsville Mayor Nelson Santos and Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara will put their names forward for warden.
Bain's successor will be voted on at the inaugural meeting of the new council on Dec. 12.
— with files from CTV Windsor's Ricardo Veneza.