Election candidates are beginning to put their names forward as the District of Squamish heats up for the municipal election in November.
Rick Price, the current chair of School District 48's board of education and former principal at Myrtle Philip Community School and Stawamus Elementary in Squamish, is seeking re-election.
As well trustees Christine Buttkus and Chris Vernon-Jarvis of Whistler have both indicated they will seek re-election in the upcoming campaign. Andrea Beaubien of Squamish announced this week that she also plans to seek re-election.
Rebecca Barley of D'Arcy said she hasn't decided yet if she will seek re-election to the board of education.
So far in Squamish, Bryan Raiser is the only incumbent to announce his intention to seek re-election to District of Squamish municipal council. Former volunteer fire fighter Uffe Hansen announced his intention to run this week and he followed announcements from political newcomers Phil Audet, Brad Hodge and Nate Dolha.
As of the Pique's print deadline there were no declared candidates seeking the position of mayor in Squamish.
Terrill Patterson runs in every election and he has indicated he will run for a seat on the board of education and he will also campaign for a seat at the council table. If the position of mayor goes unchallenged he will run for that position too.
For those planning on campaigning in Squamish a free social media seminar, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, is planned for Wednesday, Oct. 5 at the Squamish Adventure Centre.
To get the attention of young voters and to win in 2011, many believe local political candidates need to take advantage of all available Internet communications options in combination with more traditional campaign tactics.
According to seminar organizer Bianca Peters of bp communications, candidates will learn tips for using Facebook, Twitter and a new Squamish-developed web application called Tiipz.
"It is a two-way conversation," Peters said of the use of social media tools during this election campaign.
Tiipz is a social media-polling tool that delivers instant feedback for surveyors and rewards people for participating in the polling.
"Tiipz is proud to be an active part of the Squamish community and we are excited to offer something to the municipal election process," said Jason Cyr, Tiipz.com CEO. "Hopefully by bringing together the candidates and potential candidates we will be able to explain how best to use Tiipz and Facebook as a means of engaging our community in conversation around election issues."
Peters said Dave Teixeira of Dave.ca Communications is confirmed as a special guest for the event.
Peters is also working with My Squamish.com to offer election candidates a place on the Internet to publish their campaign information.
The election is set for Saturday, Nov. 19 and full election coverage in Pique will begin soon.
