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Who’s running the second time around

Whistler to choose from at least 10 candidates for last council seat Ten candidates are taking the second chance, given to them this week by a provincial court judge, to run for the empty sixth council seat.

Whistler to choose from at least 10 candidates for last council seat

Ten candidates are taking the second chance, given to them this week by a provincial court judge, to run for the empty sixth council seat.

A provincial court judge resolved the tie between Marianne Wade and Dave Kirk by calling a runoff election. The election will be held on Saturday, Jan. 11.

All 13 unsuccessful candidates can run again but three have opted out of the election, according to an unofficial poll conducted by Pique Newsmagazine . They have until Monday at 4 p.m. to change their minds and put their names forward again.

The runoff election will not include the five councillors and mayor who were elected earlier this month.

Instead Whistler voters can make their choice for the sixth spot, knowing the existing make-up of council. This will make for a very interesting election, said Bob Calladine, who has decided not to run again.

"You already know who the mayor is and basically how he votes on certain things and you’ve got a pretty good idea of how the council is made up with the five members," he said.

"It’s actually quite exciting to see which way Whistler wants the council to run"

Joining Calladine from the sidelines are Stephanie Sloan and perhaps Christopher Quinlan.

All three gave different reasons for stepping out of the race.

"Mainly I’m stepping down because I’ve made the decision to let someone else do it," said Sloan, who has served on council for the past six years.

"I’m really proud of what I’ve achieved over those six years on council," she said, adding that she wants to spend more time with her family and enjoying other Whistler things like skiing and biking.

Sloan received 898 votes in the Nov. 16 election, the highest number of votes after Wade and Kirk, who both received 1,058 votes (including one extra vote each which came from different recounts).

Christopher Quinlan, owner of Behind the Grind café, was interested in running again but was weighing his political opportunities against his business opportunities.

"While I was in the election this opportunity came up," he said.

He added that this is not a good time for him to campaign in another election.

"For me to campaign during Christmas and New Year, it’s not something that works with being in business," he said.

"I have a responsibility to my staff members and to my landlords and to my investors to be very, very focused."

However, he had not made a commitment to running or not running as of Pique’s press time.

Quinlan got 668 votes in the first election.

And Calladine, who registered 553 votes, said he just couldn’t afford to campaign in another election.

"I would have to spend a specific amount of money and I probably could come up quite well but I don’t think I would be first past the post and that’s really where it’s at," he said.

"It’s an awful expense just to come in second or third."

In Pique’s poll some candidates agreed that the next election is going to be tough.

"The people who are running again are going to have to convince the community that they’re the missing piece," said Sloan.

There are 10 who are definitely giving it another shot. They are: Rick André, Shane Bennett, Ralph Forsyth, Ted Milner, Tyler Mosher, Shelley Phelan, Mitch Rhodes, Amar Varma, and of course the two candidates who originally tied for the sixth spot, Marianne Wade and Dave Kirk.

"You have to believe that there’s a reason there’s a tie and there’s a runoff," said Forsyth.

"You don’t always get a second chance to redo something, it’s not like a golf stroke."

Forsyth, like some of his fellow candidates, admitted that running in an election is like an emotional roller coaster, especially with the fate of one council spot dangling other their heads.

"I think we’ve all been through a lot," said Phelan.

"Nobody more than Dave Kirk and Marianne Wade. What an unfortunate position to put them in.

"This community has been through a lot and I’d hoped it would get resolved otherwise but it hasn’t.

"I figure if this is the judge’s ruling, I’ve taken it this far and what have I got to lose by taking it a little farther?"

Phelan said she did not make the decision to run again lightly. Neither did incumbent Ted Milner, who got 755 votes.

He only made up his mind after his 13-year-old son encouraged him to run again.

"I’m telling him not to quit on school work, ski racing and otherwise so I’m going to go forward with this thing,’ said Milner. "We have to lead by example here."

Milner said that the runoff election will be different than the first election, pointing to the fact that a number of voters in the first election plumed their votes, voting only for a few candidates.

"It shows that they were very much supporting some candidates who they liked and favoured, without concern for the full panel of six people. So I think therefore this is a different ballgame with their (the electors’) ability to look at what kind of representation they want."

Other candidates echoed this sentiment.

"People can chose how they want to balance the table now," said Mosher.

"The missing link will be different for different people."

Likewise Bennett said the electors’ know the make up of the table and can decide accordingly.

"We know the assets that are elected right now, the five people that are there and the mayor," he said.

"We know their strengths and their weaknesses."

Bennett attended the judicial recount on Saturday and appealed to the judge to consider what he saw as flaws in the electoral process, among them the effect of cell phones on the counting machines.

Most of the other candidates who were polled didn’t seem particularly concerned that the electronic machines gave off different numbers during the recounts.

"Those thing happen," said Varma.

"I will be running for the same reasons I ran before. My reasons haven’t changed on that."

Likewise André is sticking with it, after talking it over with his family.

"I do have concerns with the (electronic counting) but it can’t happen like Florida."

The same machines will be used in the runoff election, which is estimated to cost about $25,000.

"Whether it is the old manual X’s or punching the ballots in Florida, people are going to mess up," said Rhodes, who was pleased there was a judicial review.

"I’m running because of the unlikely consequences of this whole tie and the judicial review coming out to be a tie. I see it almost as such a strange circumstance that I can’t let it go by. I want to participate."

Candidates will have the weekend to change their minds.

In the meantime the inaugural meeting of the new council, minus the sixth councillor, takes place on Monday, Dec. 2 in council chambers at 7 p.m.