Richmond's former Olympic snowboarder Alexa Loo was a shock last-minute entry into the city council election. Two-time Olympian Loo - the first Canadian woman to compete at the Winter Games in the parallel giant slalom event - filed her nomination papers on Friday's deadline day.
Loo, who retired from professional snowboarding after the 2010 Games and who just turned 39, was seconded in her official nomination documents by council incumbent and veteran Bill McNulty.
"It's going to be tough with so many hard-working and experienced people already there," said Loo about her chances of winning a seat on council.
"But I'm also very hard working and I want to give back to my community, which helped me so much in my career. My hope is that (voters) see that.
"For me, this will be a huge opportunity to connect with the people of Richmond and help grow the community." Loo was speaking to the News on Friday afternoon, moments after stepping off a plane in Calgary with husband Ari Goosen, en route to a former teammate's wedding in Alberta.
A few hours earlier, Loo was in city hall on No. 3 Road, filing the candidate nomination papers she only decided to fill in at the beginning of the week.
"I've been thinking about it a lot since I retired," said Loo, a retired chartered accountant. "Sometimes I see things in Richmond and think 'if I was mayor.' Not that I'm going for mayor, of course, I think we have pretty good leadership. Maybe a few years down the road."
However, Loo, who has set up home once again in her native city with the man she married in May 2010, revealed that next month is going to be a big one for more reasons than the Nov. 19 election.
"We are expecting our first child on Nov. 24," Loo said. "Everything is going really well with the pregnancy and I'm looking forward to it all, it's going to be a very busy time."
As for long-time incumbent city councillor McNulty - a member of the Richmond First slate - putting his seal of approval on her nomination form, Loo said she's known him for many years after he helped her secure sponsorship ahead of the Olympics when government funding dried up.
"(McNulty) said I would've been welcome on the Richmond First slate, but I was a little late in getting myself organized," she said. "It's going to be harder as an independent, but I guess I don't have to follow anyone else's beliefs."
If she were to get the bigger seal of approval from the Richmond people, Loo said she'd like the city to take a closer look at its zoning policy.
"The city is getting really full and we're not creating communities anymore, people are rarely interacting with each other," Loo added.
"I'd like to see more neighbourhoods created. I'd like to see more programs aimed at getting people out and interacting.
"When I was a kid, we knew all our neighbours. Now I'm not sure I know any and there's a real disconnect with each other. I'd like to make Richmond an even better place to raise our kids."
acampbell@richmond-news.com
