With new leadership comes hard work, and that’s exactly what newly elected Valley Grande Mayor Wayne Labbe is willing to put forth.

In Tuesday’s municipal elections, Labbe beat out opponent Gene Hisel with 58 percent of the vote. Although Labbe has never held a political office, he said he is up for the challenge and looks forward to serving the city of Valley Grande.

“I felt like through the years, with my experience, that I was qualified to do the job,” Labbe said of his decision to run for mayor.

Labbe has lived in Valley Grande for 35 years and was born and raised in Selma. After working as a purchasing agent for Bush Hog LLC for nearly 40 years, Labbe said he believes he has gained skills that make him capable of serving as mayor.

“I’ve been responsible for $35 million before, so big numbers don’t scare me,” Labbe said. “I look forward to challenges and look forward to opportunities in Valley Grande.”

Labbe also teaches a Sunday school class at Valley Grande Baptist Church, where he said he was encouraged to run for mayor.

“When we saw that the position of mayor was going to turn over, when Tom Lee decided not to run again, they just kind of put it on my plate,” Labbe said of his Sunday school class. “It was really a challenge by them.”

Labbe said one of the many things he wants to accomplish as mayor is to bring more revenue in to the city.

“We’ve got some good things going on and there are some good businesses out there right now; we just want to expand those,” Labbe said. “I would like to see our revenue base increase by about 50 percent.”

Specifically, Labbe said he would like to upgrade the city’s baseball field, which lacks fencing, lighting and a concession stand. By adding these features, the city could have night games and generate revenue through concession sales and possibly travel baseball tournaments, Labbe said.

“I watched my little grandson play on Sunday afternoon at 2 o’clock at the end of June and it was 105 degrees out there,” Labbe said. “The lights would make it more comfortable because we could play at night.”

Creating more housing developments is another goal Labbe said he would like to accomplish during his time in office.

“We want to keep our standards high in Valley Grande,” Labbe said. “I have children and grandchildren growing up here and I want to provide something for them to be proud of.”