This article has been amended to include candidate Catherine Pope, who is running for school trustee in the City of North Vancouver.
And they’re off!
Nominations closed Friday afternoon for prospective school board trustees, municipal councillors and mayors seeking a seat in this fall’s municipal election.
With new election spending limits in place for the first time in local elections, new bans on campaign contributions from unions and corporations, and a number of seasoned politicians deciding to call it a day, this municipal campaign is already shaping up differently than previous races.
And municipal watchers take note: the number of candidates who’ve thrown their hat into the ring has expanded significantly in the past week.
Here’s a quick rundown on who’s running where, based on information available from local government as of 4:30 p.m. today.
Expect to see much more coverage of your local candidates in the weeks ahead as local campaigns gather steam.
City of North Vancouver
Six candidates are running for mayor in the City of North Vancouver, where current mayor Darrell Mussatto is stepping down.
Coun. Linda Buchanan, considered by some as Mussatto’s political double, is vying with longtime Coun. Rod Clark, who often took a contrary view to Mussatto’s supporters, as well as with former city councillor Guy Heywood, who favours improved co-operation between the city and district, and former mayoralty candidate Kerry Morris, who lost to Mussatto by just 890 votes in the last election.
Political newcomers Michael Willcock and Payam Azad are also running for mayor.
The list of people running for council in the City of North Vancouver is extensive. Incumbents Holly Back and Don Bell are running for re-election. So are former city councillors Bob Fearnley and Bill Bell.
Others on the ballot include Pooneh Alizadeh, Anna Boltenko, Angela Girard, slow-growth advocate Joe Heilman, Tina Hu, Kenneth Izatt, Alborz Jaberolansar, Mica Jensen, John McCann, Mack McCorkindale who works as a constituency assistant to NDP MLA Bowinn Ma, vice-chair of the North Shore Women’s Centre Jessica McIlroy, Aaron Lobo, former library board chair and Museum and Archives Commission chair Shervin Shahriari, Ron Polly, Ron Sostad, Brett Thorburn, Thomas Tofigh, cycling advocate Tony Valente, business owner and social planning advisory committee chair Antje Wilson and Max Zahedi.
Not on the ballot this time are retiring longtime Couns. Craig Keating and Pam Bookham.
District of North Vancouver
With the retirement of longtime mayor Richard Walton in the District of North Vancouver, the race for the mayor’s chair is wide open.
Former councillor and former federal Conservative candidate Mike Little is facing off against political newcomers Ash Amlani, who is running under the banner of a new political group Building Bridges, as well as filmmaker Erez Barzilay, Dennis Maskell and Glen Webb.
Those running for council include incumbent Couns. Mathew Bond, who is also running under the Building Bridges banner, Lisa Muri, Jim Hanson, and Robin Hicks.
Other council candidates include longtime school board trustee Barry Forward, former Tsleil-Waututh councillor and federal NDP candidate Carleen Thomas, as well as a number of political newcomers including Lynn Valley Community Association board member Betty Forbes, Deep Cove merchant Megan Curren, Jordan Back, Greg Robins, Peter Teevan, Mark Elliott, ZoAnn Morten, Sameer Parekh, Mitchell Baker, Phil Dupasquier, Linda Findlay, and John Harvey.
Absent from the ballot this time is outgoing Coun. Roger Bassam, who pulled out of the mayoralty race at the end of August. Longtime Coun. Doug MacKay-Dunn is also slated to step down.
Expect issues like housing affordability, transportation gridlock and the pace of development to be among the issues in both North Vancouver campaigns.
North Vancouver School Board
In the City of North Vancouver, board chair Christie Sacre and incumbent trustees Megan Higgins and Susan Skinner are all seeking re-election.
Joining them on the school board ballot in the city are former North Vancouver school trustee Mary Tasi Baker, Sean Ewing, former Capilano University student union executive Jullian Kolstee, former Global TV reporter and Braemar PAC member Catherine Pope, Gordon Moore, Kamy Teymourian and Greg Zavediuk.
In the District of North Vancouver, incumbent trustee Cyndi Gerlach is seeking re-election. Others seeking election as school trustees include Kulvir Mann, who has been active on the District Parents Advisory Council and Safe Routes to Schools Committee, legal librarian George Tsiakos, Devon Bruce, Behl Evangelista, Norm Farrell, Cam Small and Edna Legale.
Not seeking re-election this time around are vice-chair and longtime district trustee Franci Stratton, district trustee Barry Forward, who is running for council instead, and district trustee Jessica Stanley, who moved to Vancouver Island over a year ago.
District of West Vancouver
After two elections in which the West Vancouver mayor was acclaimed, a real horse race has broken out. Couns. Mary-Ann Booth and Christine Cassidy are both vying for the top job, bringing distinctly different takes on the pace of change in the municipality. Former West Vancouver mayor Mark Sager who has the blessing of outgoing mayor Mike Smith, has also entered the race in the last week. Political neophytes Nolan Strong and Rosa Jafari are also on the ballot.
Incumbent Couns. Craig Cameron, Nora Gambioli, Bill Soprovich and Peter Lambur are running to keep their council seats.
Joining them on the ballot are former West Van Coun. Carolanne Reynolds and political challengers Jim Finkbeiner, a retired forest industry executive, Gabrielle Loren, longtime past president of the West Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, Sharon Thompson, constituency assistant for Liberal MLA Jordan Sturdy, Marcus Wong who sat on the West Vancouver police board and the board of the North Shore Multicultural Society, educational consultant Andy Krawczyk, Ambleside merchant David Jones, notary public Kate Manvell, and Ambleside and Dundarave Ratepayers Association director Heather Mersey.
West Vancouver School Board
All of the incumbent trustees are running for re-election on the West Vancouver school board.
Those include current board chair Carolyn Broady, vice-chair Nicole Brown and trustees Sheelah Donahue, David Stevenson and Pieter Dorsman.
Political newcomers vying for seats on the school board are educator Lynne Block and Charlotte Burns.
