Candidates running in the Oct. 20 District of Hope, the Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) and Fraser-Cascade School District elections have been announced.
READ MORE: 2018 election coverage for Hope and area
Three candidates have put their names forward for the Hope mayor’s seat: incumbent Wildfried Vicktor as well as Peter Robb and Cindy Young. Vicktor is also running for a seat as a school district trustee.
There are 13 candidates vying for the six seats on council, including five of the six current councillors. Bob Erickson, Donna Kropp, Scott Medlock, Dusty Smith and Heather Stewin are running, Gerry Dyble is the only current councillor not running for re-election.
READ MORE: Race for Hope Mayor starts early
The FVRD’s electoral area A, a region with 551 residents including the towns of Boston Bar and North Bend, has incumbent Terry Raymond running against Lloyd Forman. Area B, with a population of 1,495 including the Lower Fraser Canyon communities of Yale, Dogwood Valley and Spuzzum as well as Ruby Creek and Sunshine Valley, has three contenders for the director’s seat: Dennis Adamson, current director, Peter Adamo and Matthew T. Steberl.
READ MORE: Mayor Wilfried Vicktor seeks re-election
Five of the seven trustees in the Fraser-Cascade School District are running for re-election, which will elect three trustees from Agassiz-Harrison, three from Hope and one from the Fraser Canyon.
Trustee Tom Hendrikson is the only trustee running for the Canyon area. In Hope all three current trustees are running for re-election — Linda Kerr, John Koopman and Heather Stewin. They are joined by three other candidates, including Hope Mayor Wildfried Vicktor.
In Agassiz only Ron Johnstone is running for re-election, Cindy Ferguson and Rose Tustian are not listed as candidates on the FVRD website.
Tustian announced her decision not to run at a public board meeting in May, citing a ‘lack of transparency and a disrespectful workplace’. Her statement was rebuffed by board chair Linda Kerr, who stated in an email that Tustian had not provided proof of these claims to the public.
READ MORE: Tustian announces she won’t seek re-election after turbulent times on SD78 board
The announcement came after a turbulent term in office for Tustian which included the board censuring her twice. She was also the signatory of a 2017 letter, together with trustees Stewin and Ferguson, to the then Minister of Education Mike Bernier requesting a review of SD78’s governance. The letter called the school board ‘severly dysfunctional’ and alleged the other trustees consistently undermined them by voting against them.
Two young people are shaking up the Agassiz Harrison trustee race —Emma Potts, 18, and Frances Oliver, 19. Both candidates have an experience of alternative and mainstream schooling, their biographies on the FVRD website state.
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Candidate Lists:
Note: The incumbents, those holding the seats currently, are bolded
District of Hope
Mayoral candidates:
Peter Robb, Hope BC
Wilfried Vicktor, Hope BC
Cindy Young, Hope BC
Candidates for council:
John Duff, Hope BC
Bob Erickson, Hope BC
Sharlene Hinds, Hope BC
Donna Kropp, Hope BC
Scott Medlock, Hope BC
Steven Patterson, Hope BC
(Dusty) Dustin Smith, Hope BC
Victor Smith, Hope BC
(Matt T.) Matthew Steberl, Hope BC
Heather Stewin, Hope BC
Paul Stock, Hope BC
Craig Traun, Hope BC
Sung Yun Wong, Surrey BC
Fraser Valley Regional District
Candidates for Electoral area A director:
Terry Raymond
Lloyd Forman
Candidates for Electoral area B director:
Dennis Adamson
Peter Adamo
Matthew T. Steberl
School District 78- Fraser Cascade
Agassiz-Harrison candidates:
Wendy Colman Lawley
Brittany Ekelund
Ron Johnstone
Frances Oliver
Emma Potts
Lesley Ward
Marilyn Warren
Canyon candidates:
Tom Hendrickson
Hope candidates:
Lori Izawa
Linda Kerr
John Koopman
Gary Lewis
Heather Stewin
Wilfried Vicktor
The Hope Standard will be covering local angles on each of these three elections leading up to the Oct. 20 vote. To read all election coverage in one place, visit hopestandard.com.
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