The race for the mayor’s chair in Fort St. John is officially on after the city gained a second candidate for the top spot on Wednesday: Shannon Stange, newcomer to local government, will seek the seat.
Stange, originally raised in Fort St. John, filed papers to run on Wednesday afternoon after returning to town last year.
Councillor Lilia Hansen was previously the only candidate for mayor. The city’s current mayor, Lori Ackerman, said she would not run again in June.
Councillors running in Fort St. John so far include incumbent Lyle Goldie, Sarah MacDougall, Amy Cox, Gary Patara and five incumbents: Jim Lequiere, Byron Stewart, Trevor Bolin, and Gord Klassen.
School District 60 now has four candidates for its school board. Incumbents Madeleine Lehmann, Nicole Gilliss, and Ida Campbell will be joined by new candidate Tom Whitton.
In Dawson Creek, three-term councillor Shaely Wilbur will run against first-term councillor Darcy Dober for the mayor’s chair. Dawson Creek’s current mayor, Dale Bumstead, announced his early retirement effective Friday after announcing he would not run again last February.
Dawson Creek currently has nine candidates running for seats on the council: incumbents Amy Kaempf, Jerimy Earl, and Charlie Parslow will run as well as newcomers Aaron Rogers, Sue Kenny, Kyle MacDonald, Raistlin Van Spronsen, Mike Sudnik and April Cire Floriant.
Two candidates are running for school board trustee in School District 59: Chad Anderson for rural areas surrounding the city and Roxanne Gulick for Tumbler Ridge.
Pouce Coupe, in a race to watch after current mayor Lorraine Michetti’s last term, has three candidates for mayor: Edmond Boyer, incumbent Danielle Veach, and William Plowright. Incumbents Barbara Smith and Marcel Woodill are running for council again.
Tumbler Ridge, so far, has three candidates for mayor: Don McPherson, Rick Consalvi, and Darryl Krakowka. The district also has three candidates for council: Roxanne Gulick, Chris Norbury, and Timothy Walker.
In the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, incumbent councillor Kyle Andrews is joined in his bid for a council seat by newcomers Kristi Leer, Kanina Fulton, and Fred McLachlan.
Mayor Rob Fraser will run for mayor in the NRRM.
In the Peace River Regional District, newcomer Jordan Kealy has registered to run to represent Electoral Area B after Karen Goodings said she would not run again over the summer. Kealy is joined by incumbents Brad Sperling running in Electoral Area C, Leonard Hiebert running in Electoral Area D, and Dan Rose running in Electoral Area E.
Incumbent Janet Wark is the first candidate to register to run for council in Chetwynd.
Hudson’s Hope has two candidates for mayor: incumbent Dave Heiberg and Reg Knox.
Candidates for councillors in Hudson’s Hope include Debbie Beattie, Kelly Miller, Valerie Paice, and Travous Quibell.
Incumbents Michelle Turnbull and Betty Ponto will both seek to continue their roles as councillors in the District of Taylor. Brent Taillefer, a previous member of council, will run for mayor after incumbent Rob Fraser announced he would not run again this year.
Thanks for Reading!
Energeticcity.ca is the voice of the Peace, bringing issues that matter to the forefront with independent journalism. Our job is to share the unique values of the Peace region with the rest of B.C. and make sure those in power hear us. From your kids’ lemonade stand to natural resource projects, we cover it–but we need your support.
Give $10 a month to Energeticcity.ca today and be the reason we can cover the next story.
