NOMINATIONS for local government positions closed Oct. 10 with the result being as much about the few people running for some offices as about the number running for other offices.
While there is going to be a race for mayor of Terrace between two people and there 13 people running for the six council seats, only one person was nominated, current school district chair Art Erasmus, for the two Terrace seats on the Coast Mountains School District and one person, current trustee Gary Turner, was nominated for the Thornhill seat on the school district board.
Meanwhile, in the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine, current Thornhill director Ted Ramsey was the only person to be nominated again for that seat and only one person, newcomer Jessica McCallum-Miller, was nominated for the seat that takes in the rural area north of Terrace stretching down south past Lakelse Lake toward Kitimat.
In those situations where only one person was nominated for one seat, that person will be declared elected by acclamation.
In a situation when no one was nominated, as is the case with one of the two Terrace seats on the school board, the first step by returning officer Cathy Jackson was to extend the nomination period until yesterday.
The Terrace mayoral race is between current city councillor Bruce Bidgood and a former councillor Carol Leclerc.
Of the 13 Terrace council candidates, all of the current councillors are running again – Lynne Christiansen, James Cordeiro, Brian Downie, and Stacey Tyers.
Don Dunster, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2011, is now trying for a council seat.
He is being joined by Lucy Praught, Allan McIntyre, Noelle Bulleid, Michael Prevost, Sean Bujtas, Brenda Wesley, and Craig Lyons.
The 13th candidate, Jessica McCallum-Miller, who turned 21 Oct. 10, is the same Jessica McCallum-Miller who was the only person to file for the rural Terrace area seat on the regional district.
Cathy Jackson, the chief election officer for all three local government elections, confirmed that McCallum-Miller has been nominated for both Terrace city council and the regional district.
“Yes, she can,” said Jackson of McCallum-Miller’s dual nominations.
Jackson said she checked into that possibility before nominations began as there was a query about someone wondering if they could be elected to city council, to the regional district and to the school board. If elected to city council and if named by acclamation to the regional district, McCallum-Miller could not then also serve as the city-appointed director on the regional district board.
Speaking late last week, McCallum-Miller said she originally wanted to run only for Terrace city council but then also decided to run for the regional district seat.
“I want to run for the people behind the curtains that don’t normally get applauded,” she said, noting she has volunteered for several social causes and that running for council has been a dream of hers since she was 16.
She said she wants to be part of the changes underway in the area.
While only Art Erasmus has been nominated for one of two Terrace school board seats and Gary Turner is the only person to be nominated for the Thornhill seat, there’s a bit more of a race in Kitimat.
Running for the two Kitimat seats on the school board are incumbent Raymond Raj and newcomers Tim Carter and Margaret Warcup.
Angela Brand Dauser, a former mayor of Stewart, is the only person to be nominated for the school board seat there and in the Hazeltons, Shar McCrory is the only person to be nominated for that area’s school board seat.
For the Kitimat-Stikine regional district, Harry Nyce Sr. was the only person to be nominated for the Nass Valley and Meziadin area but Linda Pierre and Dean Paranich will contest the Hazelton rural area and Kispiox seat.
Dave Brocklebank is in by acclamation for the regional district seat covering Telegraph Creek, Iskut and Bob Quinn. And Edith Carrier and Tina Etzerza face each other for the Dease Lake area seat.
Note: The original story above neglected to mention a second candidate for the Coast Mountains School Board Hazelton seat. Larry Joseph is also running.