Pick a hat, pick a name
HodgePodge by Charlie Hodge
Well, all the names are known, and all the hats are ready. Lots of names for lots of hats around the province.
Now, all that really needs to be done is for those hats to be given a good shake and then dumped on the proverbial table for the big count.
Voters and candidates in various parts of the province get to spend between today and election day (October 17) on pins and needles awaiting the results of their efforts and hard work to see if they windup among the winners or the losers at the end of that day.
The waiting is hell. I know.
I’ve been there, done that, got the scars.
I fully comprehend what any candidate is going through today and can knowingly state – it only gets worse, day by day as the lection date looms in the foreground.
When I ran for City Council it was weeks of anxiety on whether or not to run. I weighed and measured the negatives and pros and finally decided I would only kick myself if I did not try.
I finished ninth which – because only the top eight get elected – I was the number one loser.
That sucked. I was devastated.
Undaunted I tried again went through the hell and back again and was victorious.
If planning to run for council is exciting and challenging, it pales compared to getting into the race. What a howl.
Running an election campaign is a highly stressful, exciting, challenging, invigorating, team building, gut checking and nerve-wracking ordeal. It is a once a life experience which you will never have again in any other job. The campaign experience itself is worth the effort in camaraderie. It’s like being in a trench of its own.
I can look back at characters from previous election campaigns who failed to get in and chuckle or think of them kindly. I can recall snippets of humorous lines, emotional moments, outrageous memories or just pleasant reflections.
Campaigns allow for unique adventures including public forums, public speaking, door knocking or sign waving.
In the Kelowna area a total of 46 people have put their name forth to run. Those who get nervous have until 4.p.m. Sept. 18 to back out or withdraw.
I have listed below the Kelowna candidates. There are three people running for mayor, 37 seeking a councillor’s chair and six running for the Central Okanagan school board.
There is only one mayor’s job.
A total of eight council seats are available along with four trustee roles in the Kelowna zone.
With myself and two other current city council members Luke Stack Loyal Wooldridge not seeking re-election, and Coun. Ron Cannan running for mayor, there are four guaranteed vacancies around the council table.
The full list of candidates is below:
Candidates for Mayor: Ron Cannan, Tom Dyas, Andrew Uitvlugt.
Candidates for Councillor: Susan Ames, Les Bellamy, Chris Bocskei, Doris Bregolisse, Nikki Csek, Greg Dahms, Todd Daniels, Maxine DeHart, Indy Dhial, Crystal Dougan, Tim Down, Julia Fraser, Daniel Fritter, Bal Grewal, King James, Hamid Khajavi, Kevin Kraft, Davis Kyle, Gord Lovegrove, Teresa May, Trevor McAleese, Randy Millis, H. Morales, Brian Pinter, JC Rathwell, Brady Rogers, Brian Rogers, Mike Rose, Todd Sanderson, Corey Severin, Mohini Singh, Glendon Smedley, Silverado Socrates, Laura Thurnheer, Lee-Ann Tiede, Rick Webber, Rob Wilkinson.
Candidates for School District No. 23 Board of Education School Trustee: Joyce Brinkerhoff, Deb Dickerson-Pogue, Richard Gauthier, Val Johnson, Jim Strachan, Ashok Kumar Verma.
