They’re off to the races in West Vancouver. A pack of 12 candidates have been nominated to run for one council seat up for grabs on Nov. 19.
That so many candidates have declared is quite heartening. That’s almost as many as we had running in 2014’s general election. It’s nice as well to see some members of West Vancouver’s Persian community on the ballot. Despite making up a sizable portion of our local population, they have been under-represented in local government.
We look forward to covering the all-candidates meetings and getting to better know each of these individuals. Those genuine about getting elected will have their websites online and be out door-knocking sooner rather than later. We’d ask that you too be ready to parse which ones are serious contenders and which ones are in over their heads.
Inevitably, there will be some making tempting but ultimately impractical promises.
If they’re vowing to have Dom Pérignon trickling from our water fountains, make sure they can explain how local tax bills will be impacted. And don’t be shy to quiz them if they’re promising things that aren’t in municipal jurisdiction (Hint: a third crossing to Vancouver isn’t.)
This byelection is a big opportunity that comes with big responsibility.
West Vancouver’s council doesn’t have factions as such but split votes are fairly common. That means the person who occupies this seat could be a swing vote when it comes to big decisions. Let’s all make sure they’ve done their homework before they get there.
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