Tri-City candidates wanting a say in civic or school board decisions over the next four years have until 4 p.m today (Friday) to file their forms at city hall.
Anyone can run for office as long as they are a Canadian citizen, over the age of 18, have lived in B.C. for at least the last six months and are not disqualified from voting in a local election in B.C. (the rules for voters are a little more stringent: anyone wanting to cast a ballot must have lived in municipality for at least the past 30 days).
The salary for elected office isn't so bad, either. Mayors in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody rake in a base wage of $129,664, $88,651 and $85,000 respectively while councillors take home $56,443, $34, 213 and $33,000 per year.
For the Nov. 15 election, The Tri-City News will post videos of the candidates on our website (tricitynews.com) starting the week of Oct. 20. As well, read our in-depth coverage of the candidates in the Voters' Guide, to be published with our Nov. 7 edition.
FIRST SLATE
The first slate in Coquitlam's history has officially put in its nomination papers.
The elector organization known as "Coquitlam Citizens Association" - or Protect Coquitlam - was made official this week.
Chief election officer Kerri Lore said the five candidates with the group will be identified on the ballot with the letters CCA after their names.
To declare as a slate, an elector organization must have two principal agents - a main spokesperson and a financial officer. As well, it falls under the same campaign rules as individual candidates, Lore said.
According to the city's website, CCA members - Coun. Neal Nicholson, Shobha Nair, Jack Trumley, and councillors Chris Wilson and Bonita Zarrillo - share the same website (protectcoquitlam.ca) and email address ([email protected]).
MORE OUTREACH
In an attempt to learn more about municipal and school board candidates - and, in turn, boost voter turnout - the cities of Coquitlam and Port Moody are posting more details about who's running for office.
In Coquitlam, the online candidate list (coquitlam.ca) includes nomination papers as well as direct contact information such as campaign phone numbers, email addresses and websites.
And in Port Moody, the city is allowing candidates to post 300-word biographies on its website (portmoody.ca). As of Wednesday, only two contenders had written their profiles: Gaetan Royer (for mayor) and Cathy Cena (for council).
BE NEUTRAL
Share Family and Community Services sent out a statement this week asking candidates in the civic election to respect the organization's non-partisanship.
"While we encourage public service, we also wish to maintain a transparent, non-partisan role in public campaigns," the statement reads. "Share has employees and volunteers from all walks of life, with political views and other opinions that are diverse and strongly-held."
It continues: "While individual employees, volunteers or donors may wish to support particular parties or candidates, such support should not to be interpreted as support from Share."
As well, the non-profit organization doesn't want candidates to use its logos, signs or its Share Bear mascot in campaign literature.
HEAR THEM SPEAK
Listen to the mayoral and council contenders talk about their visions at all-candidates' meetings next month.
In Coquitlam, Burquitlam Community Association is hosting two gatherings at Sir Frederick Banting middle school: one for Coquitlam mayor and council candidates on Nov. 4, the other for school trustee contenders on Nov. 10.
As well, Westwood Plateau Community Association has scheduled its its mayoral and council candidates debate at Summit middle school on Nov. 5.
And the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce will invite the candidates to speak at four all-candidates meetings:
Nov. 3, Port Moody mayor and council candidates, Inlet Theatre;
Nov. 4, PoCo mayor and council candidates, PoCo Inn and Suites;
Nov. 5, school trustee candidates from all three cities and the villages, Terry Fox Theatre, PoCo;
Nov. 6, Coquitlam mayor and council candidates, Evergreen Cultural Centre.
Meanwhile, Moody Centre Community Association is also having a meeting on Nov. 5 at the Kyle Centre for Port Moody candidates, at 7 p.m.
CAMPAIGN OFFICE
The Coquitlam councillor running for the city's top job will open his campaign office tomorrow (Saturday).
Coun. Lou Sekora, a former Coquitlam mayor and MP, will have a public reception on Oct. 11 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 1038 Austin Ave.
Get up-to-date information on the civic and school board elections in the Tri-Cities by following the Twitter feeds: #CQVotes14 for Coquitlam; #PoCoVotes14 for Port Coquitlam; and #PoMoVotes14 for Port Moody.
