More hopefuls step forward in Peterborough city council race

The nomination window for those seeking to run in the 2018 Peterborough municipal election will open on May 1, but already a number of current members of council and council hopefuls have announced their intentions to run.

On Thursday, Ashburnham ward councillor Keith Riel announced he will put his name forward next week to seek a third term on council. The retired General Electric plant employee says there’s more work he’d like to get done.

“I am honoured to have served council for the last two terms and want to continue to be Ashburnham’s strong and trusted voice,” said Riel. “I want to continue to talk to the people of Ashburnham, and the city of Peterborough, and bring their concerns and ideas to Peterborough City Council.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I am honoured to have served council for the last two terms and want to continue to be Ashburnham's strong and trusted voice," said Riel. "I want to continue to talk to the people of Ashburnham, and the city of Peterborough, and bring their concerns and ideas to Peterborough City Council."

Zach Hatton announced his plans to run for a seat in Northcrest ward. The 18-year-old high school student volunteered with Maryam Monsef’s mayoral and federal Liberal campaign. He ran as a candidate himself for the provincial NDP nomination in Peterborough, but lost to current candidate Sean Conway.

“I’m proud to have been born and raised within this community, I’m connected to our area through my own personal connections and experiences,” said Hatton. “They’ve afforded me a great understanding of Peterborough as a whole. My knowledge will be beneficial to our community when applied to the many pressing issues at City Hall right now.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I'm proud to have been born and raised within this community, I'm connected to our area through my own personal connections and experiences," said Hatton. "They've afforded me a great understanding of Peterborough as a whole. My knowledge will be beneficial to our community when applied to the many pressing issues at City Hall right now."

Both Riel and Hatton were on hand for a municipal election information session held at the Peterborough Public Library on Thursday afternoon with a panel that included former mayor Sylvia Sutherland, city clerk John Kennedy and Ministry of Municipal Affairs advisor Stephen Seller.

There have been many changes made the municipal elections act since the last election in 2014.

“This is an information session for people who might be interested in running for municipal council, school board or registering as third-party advertisers,” said Seller. “It’s really just a general information session to get people set up so they know what they have to do if they are interested in running.”

The modernizations of the municipal act are extensive, dealing with third-party donations, limits on spending, including and a dramatic change to the nomination period.

“It (the nomination period) used to open the first business day in January and now they have changed to the first of May,” said Seller. “The close of nominations used to be the end of September and now that’s the end of July.”

Former newspaper reporter and editor Paul Rellinger will formally announce a run for council in Ashburnham ward and wanted to get up to date on some of the new rules.

“This is a primer, this is a good opportunity to hear from the ministry about the rule changes and not only the rule changes but the reason behind them,” he said. “I am here as an interested candidate and I plan to make my intentions official very soon. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time and I’m very excited for what’s ahead.”

The municipal election is scheduled for October 22.