So You Want To Run For Town Council

If you have been considering seeking a seat on Princeton Town Council, there are a few things you must do before the October 15, 2022, municipal election. The first important step is completing your nomination papers. This is the same process as must be followed in any local government (council, regional district, school board) in British Columbia.
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The Nomination Period begins at 9:00 AM on August 30 and ends at 4:00 PM on September 9. It is during this time that candidate hopefuls hand in their paperwork to the corresponding Chief Election Officer. For me, seeking re-election to Princeton Town Council, I hand in my paperwork to the Chief Election Officer at Princeton Town Hall.

The paperwork, if you have never completed it before, is somewhat intimidating. There is a lot of personal information you must share and the majority of your nomination papers become public documents. Here are some of the details you must include:

Candidate Information Release Authorization

This page essentially gives the municipality permission to share your documents with the public and media. Although all questions on this specific page are optional, I prefer to fill them out completely. The details contained on the release form will appear on CivicInfo BC websites.

Nomination Documents

This section contains a list of local electors I have approached to nominate me for a seat on Town Council. Depending on where you live in British Columbia, the number of nominations required fluctuates from two to twenty-five or more. In Princeton, I need ten. I usually get more just in case one or more are disqualified for some reason. It does happen. When I filled out my nomination papers for the October 2018 municipal election, one name was DQ’d.

Appointment of Candidate Financial Agent

I choose to act as my own Financial Agent, but some candidates will select someone they know and trust to fill this role. This page requires all the information about who that person is.

Appointment of Candidate Official Agent

This is another page that details who a candidate’s official agent is if one is selected.

Appointment of Candidate Scrutineer

And…another page outlining information on a candidate’s scrutineer, if one is chosen.

Statement of Disclosure

Under the Financial Disclosure Act, a candidate must include the document known as the Statement of Disclosure. This document must be updated annually by elected members of the local government. It has sections with headings including:

Assets

This is where the name of each corporation a candidate holds shares in must be identified.

Liabilities

A list of creditors a candidate owes a debt to - just the name of the creditor and creditor’s address. The actual amount of debt owing is not disclosed.

Income

Here a candidate lists all sources of income including their capacity within the business and the name of the business.

Property

Candidates must list the legal description and address of all land they own.

Corporate Assets

Here a candidate has to list the names of corporations they own, the type of business conducted by the corporation, and a list of creditors.

There are also a couple of declaration pages that should be signed in front of the Chief Election Officer who must sign as a witness.

After You Complete All Paperwork

Once the nomination package is completed, you can hand it to the Chief Election Officer for review between August 30 and September 9, 2022. Candidates are expected to provide a nomination deposit of $100 at the time of filing their nomination papers. After the papers are reviewed, they stay with the Chief Election Officer. A candidate has no idea who else is running in the election with/against them until nominations close and the Declaration of Candidates is made after 4:00 PM on September 9. 

Final Thoughts

It sounds intimidating, doesn’t it? But this is a process overseen by Elections BC and followed in every local government election in the province. Trust me, when I picked up my nomination package for the upcoming municipal election, it looked like a lot of work. I just picked away at it, section by section, and got the majority of the paperwork filled out in an afternoon. Gathering nominations takes a lot longer than that. 

So…there you go. That is the process one must follow to become a candidate in the upcoming elections. Remember, general voting day is October 15, 2022, between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM at the Princeton & District Community Skills Centre, 206 Vermilion Avenue, Princeton. The advance voting day is October 5, 2022, from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, also at the Skills Centre. 


When you cast your ballot, please consider voting for me, George Elliott.