Incumbent mayor John Vassilaki will have four challengers in the upcoming Penticton election on Oct. 15.
Current councillor Julius Bloomfield, local tattoo shop owner Corey Hounslow, anti-crime group leader Jason Reynen and semi-retired resident Owen Hayward managed to file their nomination papers before the 4 p.m. deadline on Friday, Sept. 9, to make it onto Penticton’s mayoral ballot for 2022.
Vassilaki is seeking his second term as mayor, after defeating the incumbent Andrew Jakubeit in 2018.
Bloomfield, who announced his bid for the position on Tuesday, Sept. 6, pitched himself to voters as a measured mayor.
Hounslow told the Western News his vision this week for Penticton’s immediate future, which includes a closer look at the housing market and a change in how the public’s money is spent.
Hayward, a first-time candidate along with Hounslow and Reynen, describes himself as semi-retired in his nomination papers.
Reynen is from Clean Streets Penticton, an anti-crime group that was responsible for organizing a downtown protest in July.
Race for city council heats up
A total of 17 city council candidates will battle over six spots, with incumbents Katie Robinson, James Miller, Campbell Watt and Frank Regehr seeking re-election.
Jakubeit, who served as mayor from 2014 to 2018, is looking to make a return to Penticton politics but this time as a councillor.
Helena Konanz, the Conservative Party of Canada’s most recent MP candidate for the South Okanagan-West Kootenay riding, is also in the race as she aims to reclaim her chair on council after serving in the position from 2011 to 2018.
Surrey councillor Jack Hundial was among the first ones to throw his name in the hat, along with Larry Schwartzenberger, who has served in the same role in Oliver for nine years.
Naramata winemaker Katie O’Kell, litigator Amelia Boutlbee, B.C. Parks’ ranger Isaac Gilbert and Float Penticton owner Nick Kruger are also making bids to sit on council for the next four years.
Downtown businessman Ryan Graham, retired resident Wayne Llewellyn, non-profit program coordinator Davinder Sandhu, Lindsay Hall from Softy’s Shoes and Comfort, as well as Clean Streets Penticton administrator Shannon Stewart round out Penticton’s 2022 city council ballot.
The official campaign begins Sept. 17.
All of the Penticton Western News’ coverage of the election can be followed here.
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