Municipalities still seeking council candidates

Several New Brunswick communities are still searching for candidates willing to run for municipal council positions with only a day left before nominations close.

New Brunswickers will be electing new mayors and councils on May 14. So far, there are no nominations for the ballots in several communities.

As of Thursday at 2:30 p.m., there were no candidates running for election in Centreville, Lac-Baker and Rogersville.

That was also the case in the village of Meductic on Wednesday. But on Thursday, two people submitted nomination papers to run for a council position and for mayor in the village, whichhas a population of 210.

Perth-Andover, the village that experienced a significant flood two weeks ago, also received its first two candidates on Thursday.

However, six municipalitiesDorchester, Harvey, Hillsborough, Petit-Rocher, Riverside-Albert and St.-Hilairehave no nominations for mayor.

Despite the vacancies across the province, Paul Harpelle, a spokesperson for Elections New Brunswick, said nominations are coming in fast.

There are now 895 candidates for municipal positions. There are 131 male candidates seeking mayor positions and 33 females running for mayor positions.

There are 527 men running for council positions and 204 women seeking spots on local councils.

By-elections possible

And the elections agency has a plan to fill any vacancies after May 14.

"We've already got in place a process to schedule by-elections in late June, should that happen," he said.

"Our hope of course at the end of the day is that we have contests, we have candidates in all of the races. But we are prepared, if we have to, to hold by-elections."

Assistant Chief Electoral Officer David Owens said the number of declared candidates so far is about the same as it was at this point in the 2008 election.

Anyone interested in running for municipal councils, district education councils, or regional health authoritieshas until 2 p.m. Friday, he said.

Some people are already looking to ensure there are fewer vacancies on election day.

Meductic Coun. Lance Graham filed his nomination for mayor on Thursday and expects there will be candidates for all three seats on council when nominations close on Friday.

"Just a small town and maybe we leave things to the last minute. Everybody's busy. There's going to be a full slate of officers running and you'll see that going into effect probably tomorrow morning," Graham said.

"So no fear, we're going to have a strong council."

And in Harvey Station, Winston Gamblin, a former mayor, said he plans to file papers to run for his old job before the deadline.

But he said municipal politics can be daunting and that could keep some people on the sidelines.

"It takes quite a commitment. And for young people with families, it's a hard job," he said.

"Being self-employed, it's a little easier to get away in the daytime to go to a meeting in town. But if you work for someone else, you can't just walk out the door."