When British Columbians head to the polls to elect new civic leaders in less than three weeks, Lumby residents will also get to cast their ballots.
It’s notable because, during the last round of municipal elections, voters in the north Okanagan village weren’t given a choice.
Their entire council won their seats by acclamation.
This time, around eight people — including three incumbents — are vying for the village’s four council seats.
“I think a race is positive for anybody,” said Mayor Kevin Acton. “It’s democracy at work. If you are doing a good job and you are in a race and you win, you’ll know it, and if somebody’s got something better to offer, then they will win.”
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While there is a race for council seats, no one challenged Acton for the mayor’s position so he will be returning to that role for another term.
“I think it is a challenging job, there is a lot to do, maybe people look at what’s going on and the challenges behind it and decided it wasn’t something they wanted to do,” Acton said.
“I don’t take any pride in not having somebody run against me because it really doesn’t say much.”
It will be a fourth term for Acton, who has been mayor since 2009. He plans to use that term to tackle flooding challenges in the community.