Some competitive races are shaping up throughout the North Okanagan as the nomination period for the Nov 15 municipal election closed today at 4 p.m..
Starting in Vernon, where incumbent Mayor Rob Sawatzky is bowing out and leaving the spot open for five hungry new mayoral candidates.
As for council seats, all current councillors are running again with two open seats up for grabs left behind by Mary-Jo O'Keefe who is running for mayor, and Councillor Patrick Nicol who lost his battle with cancer early this year.
Here is the list of those seeking your votes for mayor and councillor for the City of Vernon.
Mayor (elect one):
- Victor Cumming
- Jamie Morrow
- Akbal Mund
- Mary-Jo O'Keefe
- Klaus Tribes
Councillor (elect 6):
- Scott Anderson
- Juliette Cunningham (I)
- Kari Gares
- Jack Gilroy
- Art Gourley
- Janet Green
- Shawn Lee
- Catherine Lord (I)
- Dalvir Nahal
- Mark Olsen
- Brian Quiring (I)
- Bob Spiers (I)
- James Todd
- Colt Wilson
In Coldstream, incumbent Mayor Jim Garlick is running unopposed and only seven candidates are running for the six slots on council, five of them incumbents.
Here is the list of those seeking your votes for mayor and councillor for The District of Coldstream.
Mayor (elect 1):
- Jim Garlick (I)
Councillor (elect 6):
- Pat Cochrane (I)
- Doug Dirk (I)
- Richard Enns (I)
- Shane Hillman
- Gyula Kiss (I)
- Peter McClean (I)
- Glen Taylor
In Lumby, incumbent Mayor Kevin Acton is running unchallenged while four councillor candidates are guaranteed one of the four council seats.
Here is the list of those seeking your votes for mayor and councillor for the Village of Lumby.
Mayor (elect 1):
- Kevin Acton (I)
Councillor (elect 4):
- Nicholas Hodge (I)
- Lori Mindnich (I)
- Randal Ostafichuk (I)
- Juliet Pilon
Armstrong also has an incumbent Mayor facing an easy election unopposed with Chris Pieper the only name on the ballot.
However, their race for council is competition with 12 candidates, including four incumbents, running for the six seats.
Here is the list of those seeking your votes for mayor and councillor for the City of Armstrong.
Mayor (elect 1):
- Chris Pieper (I)
Councillor (elect 6):
- Kerry Bennington
- Paul Britton (I)
- Steven Drapala
- Shirley Fowler (I)
- Helen Jackson
- Lance McGregor
- Dave McKechnie
- Gil Melin
- Ron O'Sullivan (I)
- Robert Thibeau
- John Trainor (I)
- Linda Werner
The City of Enderby sees one face taking on incumbent Mayor Howie Cyr while eight candidates are running for six council seats including three incumbents.
Here is the list of those seeking your votes for mayor and councillor for the City of Enderby.
Mayor (elect 1):
- Howie Cyr (I)
- Greg McCune
Councillor (elect 6):
- Tundra Baird (I)
- Brad Case (I)
- Roxanne Davyduke
- Raquel Knust (I)
- Jim Macknee
- Paul McCaig
- Brian Schreiner
- Shawn Shishido
As for the Regional District of the North Okanagan, seven candidates are running for the five Electoral area spots.
Electoral Area B (elect 1):
- Bob Fleming (I)
Electoral Area C (elect 1):
- Mike Macnabb (I)
Electoral Area D (elect 1):
- Huguette Allen
- Rick Fairbairn (I)
Electoral Area E (elect 1):
- Hank Cameron
Electoral Area F (elect 1):
- Herman Halvorson
- Jackie Pearase (I)
In the Greater Vernon School District # 22 a total of seven trustees are voted in.
Currently 11 candidates, half of which are incumbents, are running for the available slots.
City of Vernon and the North Okanagan Regional District Electoral Areas B and C (elect 4):
- John Armstrong (I)
- Mollie Bono (I)
- Stephen Connor
- Lisa de Boer
- Brenda Giffin
- Kelly Smith (I)
- Perry Wainwright
The Corporation of the District of Coldstream (elect 1):
- Robert Lee
- William Turanski (I)
The village of Lumby and the North Okanagan Regional District Electoral Areas D and E (elect 2):
- Mitzi Fortin (I)
- Doris Squair (I)
As for the North Okanagan-Shuswap School District #83 which includes Enderby and Armstrong only eight candidates are running for the nine available slots.
Armstrong/Spallumcheen (elect 2):
- Bob Fowler (I)
- Laurie Myers (I)
- Kelly Rowe
Enderby (elect 1):
- Chris Coers (I)
Salmon Arm (elect 2):
- Marcel Bedard
- Bobbi Johnson (I)
- Dale Townsend
Sicamous/Malakwa (elect 1):
- Barry Chafe (I)
Carlin/Sorrento (elect 1):
- Jennifer Wilchuk (I)
Falkland/Deep Creek/Ranchero (elect 1):
- Debbie Evans (I)
All candidates have until next Friday, Oct 17 at 4 p.m. to have their names removed from the ballot.
After Oct 17, the ballot becomes official.
In the case where a candidate is unopposed and decides to pull out of the rase for whatever reason, a brief call for nominations can be instituted.
Please note that all candidates running in each of the Okanagan elections are invited to send a 90 -second video stating their platform and reasons for running to [email protected] which will be posted as they arrive.
Candidates will now hit the ground running with voters heading to the polls Saturday, Nov 15.