With fall fast approaching, election season has unofficially begun. Coast Reporter's election coverage begins today with this preview of candidates for the mid-November municipal election.
Voters will go to the polls on Nov. 15 to choose their elected officials for all local governments and school boards, with the exception of the Sechelt Indian Band (SIB) council. While nomination kits just became available and are not due back until Oct. 10, an informal poll has revealed the candidates are shaping up ahead of the official 45-day campaign period before the election.
Positions on the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) board will feature tight races in at least three areas. Halfmoon Bay (Area B) director Garry Nohr will seek re-election, but will be challenged by Sunshine Coast Bed and Breakfast and Cottage Owners association president (and political newcomer) Frances Wasserlein. Nohr won the position in 2005 with 392 votes, beating challenger John Marian's 187 votes.
Wasserlein, a Coast resident since May 2004, said she'd like to start some dialogue about water metering and light pollution in Halfmoon Bay. She also wants to talk about regional growth.
"I've always thought communities need to be good neighbours as much as people do," she said.
Nohr said he hopes to focus on regional growth, with special attention paid to development and blasting issues, and will look into new taxation methods in Halfmoon Bay, to ease the tax burden property assessments present to some residents.
Lorne Lewis will face Robert Corlett for the second time in the battle of Elphinstone (Area E). In 2005, Lewis edged Corlett with 372 votes to 331, while Eli Molnar finished third with 128 votes. Corlett is currently the vice president of the Sechelt Community Forest, but plans to recuse himself once his campaign formally begins, and will resign from the community forest if elected.
West Howe Sound (Area F) will also see a redux of the 2005 scenario, with Bill Hubbs taking on incumbent Lee Turnbull, whose 295 votes bested Hubbs' 233 in that election. Hubbs, who was prominent in St. Mary's Hospital's 2007 Back the CAT campaign, identified his areas of expertise as health care and finances, while Turnbull said her priority if re-elected will be to get the SCRD's regional growth strategy off the ground, and to ensure the community stays a part of the strategic land and resources plan (SLRP) being carried out by the provincial government and the SIB.
Pender Harbour (Area A) will see a new director, given incumbent John Rees' impending retirement from politics. The only name to emerge so far is Egmont's Geoff Craig, who confirmed he will be a first-time candidate. He's running with the endorsement of Rees, who won by acclamation in 2005.Roberts Creek (Area D) director Donna Shugar said she hasn't heard of anyone planning to run against her this election season. Shugar will focus on looking at greenhouse gas emissions "in a proactive way," and added the impending official community plan (OCP) review for the Creek will be a good chance for Creekers to lend their skills toward the community.
Voter turnout in SCRD areas hovered around 30 per cent in the 2005 election, similar to the participation rate in Gibsons, where Mayor Barry Janyk will run for his fourth term as mayor. Janyk's 642 votes topped challenger Angela Letman's 521 votes in 2005. The mayor said he encourages new candidates to run, but cautioned they'll "need to attend meetings and understand the complicated issues we have to wrestle with - every year it becomes more and more bizarre."
While no mayoral challengers have emerged so far, Janyk noted he's yet to run uncontested in an election. While none of the councilors have yet declared they'll run, Bob Curry and LeeAnn Johnson said they likely will, while Gerry Tretick and Chris Koopmans said they're still weighing their options - though there are indications one of the two may take at a run at the mayor's chair. In 2005, Tretick was the top vote-getter among councilors with 856. Also likely to run is Andrea Goldsmith, who sat on council from 2002 until 2005.
This election will likely feature a referendum on borrowing money for water conservation work, much like 2005, when the restructure of SCRD areas E and F went to the vote and failed to pass.
In order to run in a municipal election, a candidate must be over 18 years of age, a Canadian citizen, a B.C. resident for six months before the nomination date. Candidates don't have to reside within the area in which they're running for a position.
Editor's note: In part two of our first look at the municipal elections, we take a look at the District of Sechelt and School District No. 46.
