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Richmond’s civic election nomination period kicks off

Anyone vying for a seat on Richmond’s city council or school board can officially begin filing their nomination papers today. There are less than 50 days until the general election day and, on Oct.

Anyone vying for a seat on Richmond’s city council or school board can officially begin filing their nomination papers today.

There are less than 50 days until the general election day and, on Oct. 20, voters will elect a mayor, eight city councillors and seven school trustees.

To run in the election, a candidate must have been a resident of B.C. for at least six months before filing their documents, be 18 years or older on voting day, be a Canadian citizen and not be disqualified by law.

Election packages are available online at richmond.ca/elections or at the Richmond Elections Office, which is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.

Additional information online includes expense limits, signage restrictions, important deadlines and videos from the provincial government highlighting what makes a strong candidate and what to expect while in local office. There is also information available for voters and anyone who is interested in employment during the election.

Currently, slates Richmond First (Couns. Bill McNulty, Derek Dang and Linda McPhail along with Andy Hobbs, Peter Liu and Sunny Ho), Richmond Community Coalition (Couns. Chak Au and Ken Johnston with former trustee Jonathan Ho and new candidates Parm Bains and Melissa Zhang), Richmond Citizens' Association (Coun. Harold Steves with Kelly Greene, Judie Schneider and Jack Trovato), RITE Richmond (Coun. Carol Day with Henry Yao, Niti Sharma and Michael Wolfe) and the Driveway Party (Kevin Coles, Kevin Lainchbury, Todd Richmond, Kevin Smith, Mitchell Peckinpaugh and Mike Wolfe) hold the majority of the council candidates.

Coun. Alexa Loo and John Roston are currently the only two candidates who have announced they’ll run independently.

Mayor Malcolm Brodie is seeking re-election and currently serves as an independent. Hong Guo, a Richmond real estate lawyer, will also run for mayor.

Hoping to join the Richmond Board of Education are five candidates from Richmond Community Coalition, Grace Tsang, Harv Puni, Rahim Othman, Rod Belleza and Keith Liedtke. Trustees Donna Sargent and Eric Yung will run again with Richmond First, along with Jason Lee, Elsa Wong and Norm Goldstein. Current trustee, Deborah Tablotney, and new candidates, Ivan Pak and James Li have announced they will run independently.

The nomination period for all candidates ends on Sept. 14 at 4 p.m.