Coun. Andrew Jakubeit is the last councillor to sound off on his election plans. He does not plan on running for the mayor's chair in the upcoming byelection.
Image Credit: Source/City of Penticton
June 18, 2013 - 10:41 AM
City staff to present possible election dates on July 2
PENTICTON — Coun. Andrew Jakubeit said he will not run for the mayor's spot. He is the last elected official to sound off on his plans on the upcoming byelection.
With former mayor Dan Ashton taking his seat as MLA there is a hole in council that will double in size. Acting mayor Garry Litke said he will run for the top job and that will mean leaving his own council seat.
Corporate officer Dana Schmidt told council on Monday night appointing a chief election officer is the first step. That person will set a voting date no later than 80 days after being selected.
If the officer gets the job on July 2, the nomination period will be from July 23 to Aug. 2 with the election held on Sept. 7. If the officer is appointed on July 15, the nomination period will be from Aug. 13 - 23 with an election held on Sept. 28. The third possibility will be the appointment Aug. 6, nomination from Sept. 3-13 and an election on Oct. 19.
Staff said these dates avoid long weekends and large community events and they are only possibilities. A more detailed report will be presented at the July 2 regular council meeting.
Coun. Helena Konanz wanted the election to happen sooner than what is presented. "Wouldn't it be nice to just decide?"
Coun. Wesley Hopkin said there are steps to hold a municipal election. There has to be an announcement in the press, time given for people to announce their candidacy, etc.
Burga Black will not answer the candidacy call like she did for the 2011 election. She ran for council then and has no plans to do so again. She said she is 88 years old now.
Former mayoral candidate Katie Robinson said she is not sure which position she will run for whenever the election is called. She ran against former mayor Dan Ashton in 2011 and is leaning to race again.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Quesnel at squesnel@infotelnews.ca, call 250-488-3065 or tweet @shannonquesnel1
Correction: An earlier version of this story said Burga Black ran for mayor in 2011. In fact, she ran for council. This story was corrected at 2:40 p.m., June 19.
News from © iNFOnews, 2013