Sylvia Pranger is the mayor of Kent by acclamation. She has served as mayor in the past but was a councillor prior to the 2018 election.
Pranger ran unopposed. Incumbent councillors Susan Spaeti and Duane Post were also re-elected. They will be joined by incoming councillors Kerstin Schwichtenberg and Stan Watchorn.
Below is the full list of mayoral and councillor candidates for Kent.
Candidates
Mayor
Sylvia Pranger
Council
Ian Gardner
Erin Kelley
Duane Post (incumbent)
Kerstin Schwichtenberg
Susan Spaeti (incumbent)
Stan Watchorn
Sung Y Wong
Boundary
Kent is a district that includes the communities of Agassiz and Harrison Mills. It’s bounded by the Harrison River to the west, the Fraser River to the south and Harrison Hot Springs and Harrison Lake to the north.
Population (2016)
6,067
History
A search for gold and farmable land drove settlers to the Kent area in the 1800s.
Europeans came through Agassiz on their way to the Fraser Canyon amid the 1858 Gold Rush.
The first families settled in the area in the 1860s.
First Nations would trade with the Hudson’s Bay Company along the Harrison River around this time.
More settlement would come with the establishment of the Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre in 1889; the centre helped people to adapt to the region’s climate and soil, and teach them new ways to farm.
The area’s economy would grow even further with the arrival of the Canadian Pacific railway in 1895.
Forestry and agriculture have been the main economic activities in this region over the years, but it has diversified over the years.
New economic drivers have included a turn to corn production following a flood that ended hop growing in 1948.
Mountain Institution and Kent Institution opened in 1962 and 1979, respectively, and those too have provided more jobs for nearby residents.
Median total income of couple economic families with children (2015)/B.C. median
$97,152/$111,736
Crime Severity Index (CSI) — 2016
Kent/B.C.
83.19 (+15.56)/93.63 (-0.17)
Agassiz/B.C.
209.77/93.63 (-0.17)
Violent Crime Severity Index (VSCI) — 2016
Kent/B.C.
85.46 (+12.89)/74.86 (-9.81)
Agassiz/B.C.
284.43 (-26.82)/74.86 (-9.81)
Political representation
Federal
Jati Sidhu (Liberal)
Provincial
Laurie Throness (BC Liberal)