The race is on.
Richmond's election office is now officially open, accepting nominations from those who want your vote to join city council or the board of education as a trustee.
Already a number of people have declared their intentions to run for office - namely three trustees who aim to move over to city council.
And at this point, none of the incumbents on council have said they're not running.
As well, we have a couple of local activists ready to stir up the pot.
The city's website promises to update daily the names of officially registered candidates as they file their information.
One of the biggest challenges is the number of names voters have to contend with.
There are 16 seats (eight councillors, one mayor and seven trustees) up for grabs and who knows how many candidates will be vying for each of those.
Also, while many of the candidates run on slates, those slates are not nearly as well defined as political parties at the provincial or federal levels.
Those who vote for a party more so than a candidate have less to go on in a municipal election.
In other words, we're all going to have to do a little more homework to figure out who should run our city and school district.
But like most homework, it should be done.
A civic election might not have the glamour of a national event, but its results can have a profound and far-reaching impact on your life.
The nature of our neighbourhoods, the quality of our community centres, the sports programs for our kids and cultural programs for our seniors are all the result of the kind of city we help create.
The issues we prioritize and the people we vote for are what bring that together.
The Richmond News will cover the issues and the candidates as the election evolves. If you have concerns that you want to see addressed, email us at editor@ richmond-news.com.
