UPDATE:
One city hall employee in the Okanagan predicted a busy Friday afternoon. She was right.
Today was the cutoff for nominations in next month’s provincial civic elections, with the deadline being 4 p.m. Earlier in the day, it seemed that four incumbent mayors, and a candidate bidding to become mayor, would be acclaimed, with no one running against them.
But when 4:05 p.m. rolled around, that number was reduced to three.
Armstrong mayor Chris Pieper, Lumby mayor Kevin Acton and Sicamous mayor Terry Rysz will be unopposed, meaning the job is theirs again.
In West Kelowna — with incumbent mayor Doug Findlater not seeking re-election, but instead a seat on council — it seemed the city’s top spot would go to lone candidate Gord Milsom. However, in a last-day filing, he will be facing Mary Mandarino.
It was the same scenario for Revelstoke mayor Gary Sulz, who will face Darcy Wyonzek, and Lake Country mayor James Baker, who will face Barry Rhodes.
In Kelowna, four people are running for mayor, while six are vying for the job in Penticton and four will be on the ballot in Vernon.
Here, as of 5:30 p.m., is a list of electoral nominees:
In Armstrong, one person is running for mayor and seven are running for council.
In Coldstream, two are running for mayor and seven are running for council.
In Enderby, two are running for mayor and seven are running for council.
In Kelowna, four are running for mayor and 22 are running for council.
In Keremeos, two are running for mayor and four are running for council.
In Lake Country, two are running for mayor and nine are running for council.
In Lumby, one is running for mayor and eight are running for council.
In Oliver, two are running for mayor and 10 are running for council.
In Osoyoos, two are running for mayor and 13 are running for council.
In Peachland, six are running for mayor and 11 are running for council.
In Penticton, six are running for mayor and 22 are running for council.
In Princeton, four are running for mayor and 16 are running for council.
In Revelstoke, two are running for mayor and 12 are running for council.
In Sicamous, one is running for mayor and 10 are running for council.
In Spallumcheen, two are running for mayor and seven are running for council.
In Summerland, two are running for mayor and nine are running for council.
In Vernon, four are running for mayor and 21 are running for council.
In West Kelowna, two are running for mayor and 17 are running for council.
ORIGINAL STORY:
It’s only hours away: The 4 p.m. nomination deadline for next month’s provincial civic elections.
On Thursday, Kelowna city councilor Mohini Singh avoided today’s last-minute rush by filing her papers. She’ll be one of 17 hopefuls running for eight council positions. As of Friday morning, six of Kelowna’s eight incumbent councillors had filed their papers: Singh, Maxine DeHart, Ryan Donn, Gail Given, Charlie Hodge and Luke Stack. Brad Sieben and Tracy Gray have not yet filed.
Singh was first elected to council in 2011, as were DeHart and Given. The longest-serving councilors are Hodge and Stack, who were first elected in 2008. Donn, Gray and Sieben were elected in 2014.
The candidates running for mayor, so far, are incumbent Colin Basran, Tom Dyas, Josh Hoggan, Bobby Kennedy and Bob Schewe.
Meanwhile, in Coldstream and Lumby, election day in those two North Okanagan communities may turn into acclamation day.
As it stands, those towns have just the required number of candidates running to fill the spots of mayor and council. Unless more names are added before 4 p.m. today, no election will take place, with those candidates being acclaimed.
In Coldstream, council is comprised of a mayor (Jim Garlick) and six councillors (Pat Cochrane, Doug Dirk, Richard Enns, Gyula Kiss, Peter McClean and Glen Taylor).
As of Friday morning, Garlick had submitted his nomination papers for mayor, while just six nominees had filed their intention to run for council (Cochrane, Dirk, Kiss and Taylor plus Stephanie Hoffman and Ruth Hoyte).
In Lumby, council is comprised of a mayor (Kevin Acton) and four councillors (Lori Mindnich, Nick Hodge, Randal Ostafichuk and Julie Pilon).
As of Friday morning, Acton is the only person running for mayor, while running for the four council spots are Mindnich, Ostafichuk and Pilon plus Marianne Butler.
Other Okanagan mayors who could be acclaimed include Armstrong’s Chris Pieper and Lake Country’s James Baker. In West Kelowna, only one person is running for mayor: Gord Milson. Current mayor Doug Findlater is stepping down and is running for council.
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