Political newcomer Jack Froese unseated Mayor Rick Green, easily taking the mayor's chair from an incumbent and fending off veteran councillor Mel Kositsky Saturday night.

Froese ended the night with 7,706 votes to Kositsky's 6,522 and Green's 4,466. Froese led in most of the dozen polling places around the Township, with Kositsky taking a few.

"We had a plan, we worked it, it came through and I was confident we had a clean campaign," Froese said after his win. "We put our message out there, we talked about the future of Langley, and we stuck with that message. I was confident all the way along that if the people of Langley wanted that, they were going to vote for me, and it looks like they've spoken."

He said he believes he can bring stability to a council that was badly fractured for the past three years, primarily in its relationship with the mayor.

"But the biggest thing is, when council votes, and council makes a decision, we don't go backwards," Froese said. "We don't look in the rearview mirror, we look forward out of the windshield and we move forward."

Froese is an ex-Vancouver Police Department officer and longtime owner of J.D. Turkey Farm in the North Otter area.

He said he still has a lot of learn from his fellow council members.

Kositsky is looking at leaving public life after almost two decades as a fixture on the Township council.

"If I'd never run for mayor, I always would have regretted it," Kositsky said as he watched the last few polls come in.

"It's been good," Kositsky said. "I've have the opportunity of a lifetime to serve for 18 years."

Kositsky has been one of the longest serving councillors in Langley Township, and has been heavily involved with virtually every possible local committee, regional work with Metro Vancouver, and with groups like the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Union of B.C. Municipalities.

He had a few words for the incoming mayor.

"He'll have to sit and listen," Kositsky said. "There's a strong learning curve for local government, but I'm sure he'll do the job."

Green's controversial single term saw battles between him and the majority of council over issues ranging from the budget, to the Mufford-Glover overpass design, to the powers of the mayor.

He was censured for misleading council, and was investigated by the RCMP, although a special prosecutor ultimately determined that no charges should be laid.

"It was very, very clear," Green said of Saturday night's result.

"I am fine with it, I am absolutely fine with it."

He said he's proud of everything he's done over the past three years.

He noted that some of the newspaper headlines about him in the last year probably didn't help during the election.

18,694 ballots were counted for one of the three mayoral candidates.

Here are the unofficial numbers for the vote, with all 15 polls, including advance polls and special polls counted.

For mayor:

***Jack Froese: 7,706

Mel Kositsky: 6,522

Rick Green: 4,466

For council

***Charlie Fox: 7,973

***Kim Richter: 7,903

***Michelle Sparrow: 7,792

***Bob Long: 7,470

***Steve Ferguson: 6,988

***Bev Dornan: 6,580

***Grant Ward: 5,945

***David Davis: 5,644

Dan Sheel: 5,250

Rebecca Darnell: 4,850

Petrina Arnason: 4,577

Sonya Paterson: 4,295

Dave Stark: 4,220

Glen Tomblin: 4,045

Ben Penner: 4,025

Bert Chen: 3,908

Misty van Popta: 3,846

Carla Robin: 3,797

Tyler deBoer: 3,678

Dorothy McKim: 3,536

Tony Malyk: 3,521

Wayne Crossen: 2,415

Murray Jones: 2,277

Carey Poitras: 2,158

Rick Manuel: 1,821

Terry Sheldon: 834

Clive Rippingale: 786