Election signs have sprung up like mushrooms between Pioneer Walkway and Highway 3 east. (Richard McGuire photo)
The Osoyoos municipal election is officially underway with nine people seeking election as town councillors and two running for mayor.
Janette Van Vianen, chief electoral officer in Osoyoos, made the election declaration on Monday.
Running for mayor are incumbent Sue McKortoff and challenger Doug “Stone Dan” Pederson, a cannabis advocate.
Running as councillors are incumbents Jim King and C.J. Rhodes and newcomers Myers Bennett, Brian Harvey, Jane Long, Shelley McIntyre, Sy Murseli, Kenny Music and Sherani Theophilus.
There are four councillor positions.
Originally there were 10 candidates running as councillors when nominations closed on Sept. 14, but last Friday one of the candidates, Egon Nielsen, withdrew his nomination documents.
Nielsen told the Osoyoos Times on Sept. 17 that he had been considering withdrawing that day but decided to leave his name on the ballot.
He removed public access to his controversial Facebook page after filing his papers on Sept. 14.
Six days later, the day before he withdrew his papers, his Facebook page was public again and Nielsen posted: “I am BACK! I decided to let it all hang out…”
He posted an explanation of his actions:
“I was called a racist by a local lady because of my posts about Muslims and their rapes and murders. But Muslims are NOT a race, so that isn’t true,” Nielsen wrote. “But I was running in municipal elections so didn’t want any problems, so I decided to deactivate my (Facebook) page. But I have since changed my mind.”
Also withdrawing last Wednesday was Sarabjit Rai, an incumbent water councillor. This means the other incumbent, Claude Moreira, and challenger Kuldeep Dhaliwal will be acclaimed as water councillors for water districts 8 and 9.
Water councillors only vote on water matters affecting rural Osoyoos.
Advance voting takes place Wednesday, Oct. 10 and 17 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the council chambers. General election is Saturday, Oct. 20 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Sonora Community Centre.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
