General voting day has arrived for local government elections in the West Kootenay. The polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in each community.
In Castlegar, voting is at the community complex. Incumbent councillors Brian Bogle and Sue Heaton-Sherstobitoff are running for mayor along with Donald Pharand. There are nine candidates for council.
In Trail, voting is at the Memorial Centre. Incumbent mayor Colleen Jones is running for re-election against incumbent councillors Nick Cashol and Terry Martin. There are also ten candidates for council.
In Rossland, voting is at city hall. Incumbent councillor Lisa Kwiatkowski is running for mayor against former councillor Janice Nightingale. There are a dozen candidates for council.
In Fruitvale, voting is at the Memorial Centre. Incumbent mayor Wes Startup is running for re-election against incumbent councillor Catherine Guesford. The council seats have all been filled by acclamation.
In Slocan, voting is at the village office. The mayoral candidates are former mayor Jamie Ingram, former village administrator Eunice Ludlow, and former councillor Joel Pelletier. There are eight candidates for the four council seats.
In New Denver, voting is at the Knox Hall. Incumbent mayor Leonard Casley has been acclaimed. But there are seven candidates for the four council spots.
In Nakusp, voting is in the auditorium of the sports complex. Incumbent mayor Tom Zeleznik has been acclaimed. There are nine candidates for the four council seats.
Mayor and council have been elected entirely by acclamation in Montrose, Warfield, Salmo, and Silverton. The entire Kootenay Columbia school board has also been acclaimed.
For the Arrow Lakes school board, three trustees have been elected by acclamation. But there are races in the southern zone between incumbent Danyea Simon and Quinn DeCourcy, and in the central zone between incumbent Steve Gascon and Frances Swan.
In the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, there is a race for Area B (Columbia River communities) between incumbent Linda Worley and James McFaddin. Voting locations are the RDKB office in Trail, Rossland city hall, and the Genelle community hall.
In the Regional District of Central Kootenay, races include Area G (Salmo Valley), where the candidates are Anna Bundschuh, Susan Chew, and Nathen Rushforth. Voting is at the Salmo community centre and Ymir community hall.
In Area H (Slocan Valley), the candidates are Will Parker and Kevin Shaw. Jae Hamilton has withdrawn, but his name will still appear on the ballot. Voting is at the Bosun hall in New Denver, the Crescent Valley community hall, the Hills fire hall, the Slocan Valley Legion in Slocan, and the Winlaw community hall.
In Area J (Lower Arrow-Columbia), the candidates are incumbent Henny Hanegraaf and former director Gord Zaitsoff. Voting locations are the Castlegar community complex, Harry’s hall in Ootischenia, and the Robson community hall.
In Area K (Arrow Lakes), the candidates are incumbent Theresa Weatherhead and incumbent Nakusp councillor Tina Knooihuizen. Voting locations are the Burton community hall, Edgwood Legion hall, Fauquier community hall, and Nakusp community complex.
We will bring you regular election updates on-air and online this evening, as soon as the polls close. Trail and Castlegar both use vote-counting machines which produce results rapidly. In 2022, Castlegar released its results within half an hour of the polls closing. Other places, where the totals are tabulated manually, can take much longer, sometimes stretching into the wee hours of Sunday morning.
