The ballot order has been determined in the City of Port Alberni municipal election, while the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District has had to extend its nomination period for one area after no one stepped forward.
The City of Port Alberni’s ballot draw, taking place once the official declaration of candidates happens at the conclusion of the nomination period, is steeped in tradition. For the 2022 ballot draw chief electoral officer Twyla Slonski donned white cotton gloves as she presented the antique top hat used for the draw. The hat, on loan from the Alberni Valley Museum, once belonged to Arthur E. Waterhouse, the first mayor of Port Alberni, who arrived in 1896 with the Canadian Pacific Navigation Company and built a wharf and store near what is now the end of Argyle Street.
Slonski’s deputy electoral officers, Sara Darling and Tanis Feltrin, assisted in separating slips of paper with candidates’ names on them and pulling them out of the top hat to determine what order names will appear on the ballot on election day, Oct. 15, 2022.
Two candidates will stand for the mayoral seat in Port Alberni on Oct. 15: Tom Verbrugge and incumbent Sharie Minions. There are 21 candidates who put their names forward for six council seats, including four incumbents. Council candidate names as they will appear on the election ballot are: Todd Patola, Sandy McRuer, Ron Paulson (incumbent), Joshua Dahling, Peter Rueschmann, Graham Hughes, Dustin Dame, Jim Del Rio, Michelle Bisaro, Cindy Solda (incumbent), Carol-Anne Zanette, John Douglas, Char Patterson, Seva Dhaliwal, Richard Huneault, Dan Washington (incumbent), Terry Deakin, Sukhdev Krishan, Wendy Lee Kerr, Debbie Haggard (incumbent) and Charles Mealey.
At the regional district, the ACRD is extending its nomination period for Electoral Area C (Long Beach) until 4 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 12 after no name was put forward by the deadline on Sept. 9. Nominations for Area C (Long Beach) will be received by hand or mail to the ACRD office at 3008 Fifth Ave., Port Alberni, by fax to 250-723-1327, e-mail to elections@acrd.bc.ca (with originals due to the office by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 16). Anyone needing to file after office hours need to call 250-731-6159 or 250-720-9010 to make alternate arrangements.
Chief election officer for the ACRD Wendy Thomson declared candidates in the remaining electoral areas are:
• Bob Beckett, Area A (Bamfield);
• Fred Boyko, Area B (Beaufort);
• Derek Appleton, Penny Cote and Heather Powell, Area D (Sproat Lake);
• Susan Roth and Cindy Solda, Area E (Beaver Creek);
• Darren Deluca and Mike Sparrow, Area F (Cherry Creek).
Those running for school trustee include incumbents John Bennie, Rosemarie Buchanan, Pam Craig, Larry Ransom and Chris Washington. Others putting their name forward include Cherilyn Bray, Janis Joseph, Jen Smith, Helen Zanette and Cynthia Orr.
The municipal election takes place Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022. This is the first year residents will be able to vote by mail-in ballot. Residents wishing to vote by mail must request a mail ballot, and can do so at the city’s elections web page (portalberni.ca/municipal-elections), online at elections.ca/Voting-by-mail, in person at city hall (4850 Argyle St.), by phone at 250-723-2146 or by e-mail to corp_serv@portalberni.ca.