Thirty-four candidates will be vying for spots on city council and school board when voters go to the polls in New Westminster on Oct. 20.
When the deadline for nominations closed on Friday at 4 p.m., the preliminary declaration of candidates indicated four candidates will be running for mayor, 14 for city councillor and 16 for school trustee.
Along with incumbent Jonathan Cote, residents Nikki Binns, Jimmie (James) Belll and Harm Woldring are running for mayor.
The council race features four incumbents and 10 newcomers: Chinu Das; Daniel Fontaine; Troy Hunter; Mike Ireland; Patrick Johnstone (incumbent); Jaimie McEvoy (incumbent); Paul McNamara; Nadine Nakagawa; Benny Ogden; Chuck Puchmayr (incumbent); Angela Sealy; Mary Trentadue (incumbent); Ellen Vaillancourt; and Bryn Ward.
Aside from incumbents Mark Gifford and Mary Lalji, the majority of candidates who have thrown their name in the ring to run for school trustee are newbies: Anita Ansari; Dee Beattie; Danielle Connelly; Gurveen Dhaliwal; Alejandro Diaz; Lisa Falbo; J.P. Leberg; Cathy McCallum; Scott McIntosh; Maya Russell; Cyrus Sy; Steve Tsonev; Cathy McCallum and Douglas Woodward. Former trustee Lisa Graham, who did not seek re-election in 2014, is also seeking to reclaim her former seat on school board.
