Election nomination papers hot items in Kelowna

There’s way more people interested in running in the municipal election in Kelowna this year than in the 2018 contest.

The City of Kelowna is one of the few jurisdictions that posts a daily update of who picks up nomination papers for mayor, city council and school board.

As of today, Aug. 24, a total of 80 nomination packages have been picked up, with still plenty of time before the Sept. 9 deadline to actually file those papers in order to get on the Oct. 15 ballot.

That compares to 54 in the 2018 election but is still below the 84 picked up in 2014.

Of course, that doesn’t mean everyone who picks up the forms will actually run and, based on the past two elections, there’s no accurate way to predict how many will be on the ballot this year.

In 2018, 46% of the nomination papers picked up were actually filed. In 2014 that rate was 58%.

And ratios can vary depending on the position although, in the last two elections, 44% of those who picked up papers to run for mayor actually filed, with four candidates on the ballot in 2018 when Mayor Colin Basran ran for re-election and eight in 2014, after Mayor Walter Gray retired.

It’s not known, yet, if one of those candidates will be Basran since he has yet to declare his intentions and is not listed as one of the people who picked up papers.

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t already have them in his hands since those taking out the papers have to agree to be named on the city’s website and six prospective candidates refused.

One who did not refuse and is quite visible is Tom Dyas.

He finished second in 2018 and has been actively campaigning. He declared his intentions to run again at the end of June.

READ MORE: Tom Dyas wants to fill the cracks in Kelowna’s boom by becoming its next mayor

Others who have taken out papers for mayor and let their names be published are, in order of picking them up: Glendon Smedley, David Habib, Elizabeth Angelopoulos, Cory Sperle, Robert Anderson, Alexis Walker, Andrew Uitvlught and Steve Mclean.

The 57 people who have picked up papers to run for eight council seats include incumbents Loyal Wooldridge, Mohini Singh, Luke Stack and Gail Given. Gord Lovegrove, who finished ninth in 2018, and Ron Cannan, who is a former city councillor and MP, also picked up papers.

Ryan Donn is the only sitting councillor, so far, who has said he’s not running for re-election.

Eight people have picked up papers to run for four Kelowna school trustee positions, including incumbent Julia Fraser.

Nomination papers can be filed starting Aug. 30 up until 4 p.m. on Sept. 9 but that must be done in person at City Hall.

Those running for council must have 10 eligible voters sign their papers while school trustee candidates only need two.

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