October 13, 2026
7:30pm
7:30pm
Over the Thanksgiving Long Weekend (October 10-12, 2026) -- Williams Lake City Councillor Scott Nelson posted on Facebook -- being critical of those not residing within the City of Williams Lake (Ruth Lloyd. etc.) and running for Williams Lake City Council and their potential tax policies being implemented during the 2026-2030 term, should they be elected to Williams Lake City Council on Saturday, October 17, 2026
Watch his video here
The list of candidates running for Williams Lake City Council (and where they reside) in the Oct 2026 election can be viewed in full here
The Province of BC's requirements to run in local elections (school trustee, electoral area director, mayor or councillor) can be viewed here. It is currently NOT a requirement to reside in a municipality, regional district electoral area or school trustee electoral area to run for a position of Mayor, Councillor, Electoral Area Director or School Trustee
Meanwhile -- Ruth Lloyd (who is 1 of 14 candidates running for City of Williams Lake Council) also took to Facebook to clarify that while she does live just outside the City of Williams Lake boundaries, she does own property inside the City of Williams Lake and consequently pays City property taxes - view her response video here. This also applies to Jason Ryll (owns property in the City of Williams Lake but resides primarily in Cariboo Regional District Area "E"/Mountview) but he was successfully re-elected twice (2014, 2018)
The topic of Cariboo RD rural residents' NOT being able to vote in City of Williams Lake mayor/councillor elections but being able to run for Williams Lake municipal council has come up over the years including hearing about it in recent Cariboo Regional District Area Director elections ... and something I wrote to the provincial government about back in December of 2008 ... response from the provincial government below in February of 2009 (see below picture):
No BC Local Government has advocated for residency requirements to run for local elected office since 2009, according to UBCM/Union of BC Municipalities records which also date back to 2009....
There are many examples of local government candidates not living in a Cariboo-Chilcotin municipality but adjacent to it in a rural area but becoming successful elected officials including:
Quesnel:
L-A Roodenburg -- lives in Red Bluff (Cariboo RD Area "A") - successfully elected five times since November of 2008
Williams Lake:
Jason Ryll -- lives in Mountview (Cariboo RD Area "E") and successfully elected twice (2014-2022)
Rick Gibson -- lived in Lexington (Cariboo RD Area "F") and elected as Mayor from 2002-2005
Sue Zacharias -- lived in Wildwood (Cariboo RD Area "D") and successfully elected 3 consecutive times from 2008-2018
100 Mile House:
Dave Mingo -- lives in Lone Butte (Cariboo RD Area "L") and elected 5 times since 2007 in a by-election and consequently elected multiple times since)
CONCLUSION:
The provincial government leaves it to candidates to run in whatever local government position you wish to run for (provided you qualify) and leave the ultimate decision to voters ...
Meanwhile -- the criticism of Scott Nelson is not likely to impact his electoral chances of success as he has only lost 2 elections in 36 years -- first in 1999 running for re-election as a Williams Lake City Councillor and then in 2011, when he was competing against Walt Cobb and Kerry Cook to become Williams Lake Mayor (Kerry Cook won that election in 2011)...
Whatever your feelings about those running for Williams Lake Mayor or City Councillor -- I strongly urge voters of Williams Lake to cast their ballots, whether this Wednesday, October 14, 2026 (Advanced Vote) or Saturday, October 17, 2026 on General Voting Day (that is when I will be personally voting)...
~SF
This editorial is my own and that does reflect that of my elected position as Cariboo RD Area "D" Director or of the Cariboo Regional District Board of Directors...
No comments:
Post a Comment