Surge of incumbents defines rural races in RDCK, with similar results in other municipalities
By Nelson Daily Editor
Nelson is not an island in the West Kootenay political sea.
With municipal and regional district elections raging all across the province on Saturday night, other results from the nearby races filtered in.
Close to the Heritage City home, the Regional District of Central Kootenay’s neighbouring areas saw incumbent Area E (Balfour, Harrop, Proctor) director Ramona Faust beat out former RDCK director Josh Smienk by a difference of 164 votes, 581 to 417. Voter turnout was 33.8 per cent with 1,004 votes being cast.
On the North Shore, Area F, incumbent Ron Mickel kept his seat by garnering 385 votes over popular Nelson Road Kings president Mike Keegan’s 261. However, voter turnout was near the lowest in the RDCK at 22.3 per cent, or 648 votes.
The incumbent chair of the RDCK, John Kettle, won his seat in Area B handily, beating out challenger Ed McNiven 709 votes to 156. Voter turnout was 27.1 per cent, or 868 votes cast.
South of Nelson in Area G, Hans Cunningham retained his directorship again with 313 votes, 270 more than Werner Kraus (44) and Mark Bennett (21). Voter turnout was 36 per cent with 378 votes.
In Area D, incumbent director Andy Shadrack retained his directorship for a third term as he defeated Ron Greenlaw — the son of former Area D director Larry — by a margin of 405 to 229 votes. Voter turnout in Area D was the highest in the West Kootenay at 63.3 per cent, with 653 votes cast.
In the colourful Area H (Slocan Valley) riding, Walter Popoff retained his seat with 518 votes over his challenger Will Parker (236). Voter turnout was 24.8 per cent with 759 votes cast.
In a wide open race for Area I near Castlegar, Andy Davidoff won the seat that has been held for over two decades by John Voykin. He has 218 votes, while Owen Morris had 58, Larry Walker gathered 52, and Sandra Smith took in 23. Voter turnout was the lowest in the RDCK at 18.6 per cent, and 353 votes cast.
Castlegar
Incumbent mayor Lawrence Chernoff retained his seat over challenger and RDCK director Gordon Zaitsoff, winning by 234 votes (1,020 to 786).
He will be joined by Deb McIntosh, Dan Rye, Russ Hearne, Kevin Chernoff, Sue Heaton-Sherstobitoff and Gord Turner on City council.
Voter turnout was 31 per cent with 1,845 votes cast.
Creston
Ron Toyota kept his seat in his bid for a second term of office, beating out former mayor Joe Snopek handily by a 1,002 to 676 count. Voter turnout was 42 per cent, with 1,678 votes.
Nakusp
Incumbent mayor Karen Hamling held off a challenge from Hans Suhr by a 341 vote to 180 vote count. The village saw a 43 per cent voter turnout, with 521 votes cast.
New Denver
Ann Bunka was acclaimed mayor, while Heather Fox, Henning Von Krogh, Nadine Raynolds and David Hodsall were elected to council. Voter turnout was 56 per cent with 226 votes cast.
Silverton
Former councilor Carol Bell lost her bid for mayor, losing to Kathy Provan 59 to 43 votes. Voter turnout was 65 per cent, with 102 votes cast. All four councilors were acclaimed: Jason Clarke, Chris Saunders, Ross Johnson and Leah Main.
Slocan
Incumbent mayor Madeleine Perriere defeated John Gates in the mayor’s race by a count of 96 to 63 votes. Jessica Lunn, Jean Patterson, Hillary Elliott and Patricia McGreal were all re-elected to council. The village had one of the highest turnouts with 68 per cent of voters, and 159 votes cast.
