Four local governing bodies on the lower Sunshine Coast are poised for election races Oct. 15.
There is a race for mayors and councillors of both municipalities on the lower Coast. The school board has a race for two of its three trustee areas, while the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) has a race in just one of its five rural electoral districts.
Note: Coast Reporter has done video interviews with nearly all of the Sechelt, Gibsons and Halfmoon Bay candidates – click their names to be taken to candidate profiles. Visit www.coastreporter.net/2022-civic-election-main on election night for our coverage of results.
District of Sechelt
Sechelt voters see a race between four mayoral candidates and 13 candidates for the six councillor roles.
Former mayor John Henderson, Allan Holt, Jeri Patterson and incumbent mayor Darnelda Siegers have put themselves forward for consideration as the next mayor of Sechelt.
The 16 councillor candidates submitted their nominations for the six seats on council and three withdrew. The full list includes: Warren Allan (a former multi-term councillor in the early 2000s), Micky Argiropoulos, Donna Bell, Thomas Bramble, Cheryl Chang, Anna Jade Chen, Tim Horner, Darren Inkster (a former mayor of Sechelt and former councillor), Dianne McLauchlan, Christopher Moore (who served on Sechelt council prior to 2018), Brenda Rowe (incumbent), Adam Shepherd and Alton Toth (incumbent). Walter Tripp, Katie Clogg and Lucas Gordon initially put forward their names but withdrew.
Town of Gibsons
There is a three-way race for the mayor’s role and an election to see who claim the four council seats.
There are three people running for mayor: Silas White, Phil Yeung and Leslie Thomson. It’s the second consecutive election where White and Thomson have put themselves forward to become the mayor of Gibsons.
Meanwhile, eight candidates are vying for the four councillors’ seats, including three incumbents who served the 2018-2022 term. Those incumbents include David Croal, Annemarie De Andrade and Stafford Lumley. Desmond Delaney, Blake MacLeod, Bob Morris, Grieg Soohen and Christi Thompson are also running to become council members.
MacLeod previously ran for the mayor’s seat in 2018.
Sunshine Coast Regional District
Incumbents Leonard Lee of Pender Harbour/Egmont (Area A) and Donna McMahon of Elphinstone (Area E) will keep their seats, as the only candidates for their respective areas.
Newcomers to the regional district board include Kate-Louise Stamford, the only candidate to file to represent West Howe Sound (Area F). While Kelly Backs and Candace Woods had been poised to face off for the the Roberts Creek (Area D) seat, Woods withdrew on Sept. 16 and is to instead serve as Backs's alternate. Halfmoon Bay (Area B) will see the lone race, where Patrick Dickie and Justine Gabias are running.
Islands Trust
Of the 24 trustee seats that make up the Islands Trust, two represent Gambier Island. Incumbent Kate-Louise Stamford and Joe Bernardo are running for those positions, making Stamford acclaimed in both roles she set her sights on this election cycle.
SD46 school board
There are nine people running for the seven trustee seats on the SD46 school board — and six incumbents.
There are three Sunshine Coast school board trustee areas: Upper (Area 1), Central (Area 2) and Lower (Area 3). Both the Central and Lower electoral areas will see a race, as four candidates have put themselves forward for the three seats available in each of those areas.
The Upper area only has one trustee seat, and incumbent Samantha Haines is the only candidate nominated for that role.
The candidates vying to become trustee for the Central area are Amanda Amaral (incumbent), Maria Hampvent (incumbent), Richard “Ric” Leskie and Ann Skelcher.
For the Lower area, the candidates are Susan “Sue” Girard (incumbent), Briar Hartwell, Annastacia “Stacia” Leech (incumbent) and Pammila Ruth (incumbent).
What’s next
The official campaign period started on Saturday, Sept. 17. On Sept. 19 at 4 p.m., elections by voting and/or acclamation were declared.
In the SCRD, there are an estimated 13,011 people eligible to vote. ElectionsBC estimates 3,811 eligible voters (and 3,566 registered) in the Town of Gibsons and 9,602 in the District of Sechelt. Advanced voting will take place between Oct. 5 and 11, and general voting day is Oct. 15 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. For electors voting by mail, the deadline to apply is Oct. 13 at 4 p.m.
Coast Reporter will publish more information on candidates in the coming weeks. Find all of Coast Reporter’s election coverage at www.coastreporter.net/2022-civic-election.
