Nanaimo residents knew interest was keen in October’s municipal election, following years of drama at city hall. But many were nonetheless surprised to see 40-plus candidates put their names forward for seats at the council table.
Forty candidates are vying for eight seats as councillor and three more are competing for the mayor’s job.
Kim Smythe, CEO of the Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce, was amazed when the final tally came in, assuming the total number of candidates would be in the mid-to-high 20s for the city of 90,000. “How the heck do you start slicing and dicing these guys up to make sense of it?”
Nanaimo residents have been anticipating this election for months, after years of headline-grabbing troubles, including battles among council members, lawsuits, a failed referendum for an events centre, appointment of two special prosecutors and mounting legal fees.
In October 2016, Coun. Gord Fuller, who is running again, told Mayor Bill McKay, who is not, to “bite me.”
Voters say they’re tired of the tumult and want peace at city hall.
Some candidates are well known — four are incumbents and others served on council in past years — while others have little profile.
“There are some names that are on that list that have been talking about running or presenting themselves as candidates for the last six months,” Smythe said.
They have “been out there and meeting people,” he said. They have established themselves on social media, including having Facebook pages where they have been having conversations with fellow citizens for weeks and months.
David Black, a political communications expert at Royal Roads University, called the high level of interest in running for office in Nanaimo a “wonderful affirmation of civic culture,” which is important to any healthy society.
“I’m not surprised. This is an island full of a healthy civic culture — people involved in all kinds of things,” Black said.
And it’s not just in Nanaimo, Black said. In the capital region, 179 candidates filed nomination papers for 91 council positions. “Generally speaking, this is an Island story in 2018 and not specifically a Nanaimo one,” Black said.
With respect to Nanaimo, however, Black anticipates a shift from a “bite me” to a “boring” council, which he called a nice arc.
The “epic dysfunction” in Nanaimo likely has piqued people’s interest, he said. “It’s hard to miss. It is your classic train-wreck, car-crash kind of thing.
“But it also underscores that when you’ve got dysfunction at city hall, the city suffers in a material way.”
When a council is so “extravagantly inoperative,” that can spark residents to think that perhaps they could do better and contribute, he said.
Black sees a silver lining in the high number of candidates in Nanaimo. “[It’s a] great testament to the civic virtue in Nanaimo, which has been bruised and beaten in the last few years, that people are willing to put their names forward,” said Black, who called the 40-plus nominations a “love letter to Nanaimo.”
“It testifies that the people of Nanaimo are not giving up on good governance.”
Nanaimo election events
• The South End Neighbourhood Association is holding an all-candidates forum called South End Votes on Oct. 3 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Harbour City Theatre, at 25 Victoria Rd. Candidates for both mayor and council will be asked questions by the association and its community.
• The United Way Central and Northern Vancouver Island is holding a candidates forum on the issues of homelessness and affordable housing, Oct. 4 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Beban Park Social Centre, 2300 Bowen Rd. Candidates’ responses will be posted on the United Way’s website.
• OurNanaimo and the Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce are hosting an all-candidates fair on Oct. 9 from 6 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre, 101 Gordon St. That event will be followed by a debate among the candidates for mayor from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m., also at the conference centre.
• On Oct. 15 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. a “fishbowl forum” is planned at Nanaimo’s conference centre among candidates selected by the event organizers, OurNanaimo and the Chamber of Commercec
