The race is on.

While the mayor’s race looks like a two-horse affair, city council is wide open. With only one incumbent announcing a bid for re-election (so far) and two incumbents vying for the mayor’s chair, city council will have a decidedly different make-up after the fall election.

Depending on where you stand, that could be a good thing or a bad thing. Time will tell.

Alleine Anselmo was first to toss her hat into the ring. Anselmo was/is a vocal opponent of locating the new firehall on Servello Field. That fight certainly raised her profile in the community, but the debate is over and construction has begun.

In announcing, however, she shifted focus to another city council decision that angered a lot of people … closing the community centre.

“I believe we need to fight for it and commit to rebuilding it so future generations can enjoy the same opportunities many of us had growing up,” she said in a post announcing her candidacy.

Coincidentally, perhaps, council this week OK’d a request to look at what it would take to tear down the condemned building. That’s a far cry from ‘committing to rebuilding’ it which, I suspect, won’t be on council’s agenda for a long time … unless, of course, three other like-minded councillors are elected this fall.

Joshua Slykhuis has also jumped into the fray.

“I strongly believe the next four years need to have an almost singular focus on infrastructure,” he said in his announcement, while adding he’s aware residents are sensitive to property tax increases.

If he has the answer of how to update Fernie’s aging infrastructure and hold property taxes in line, he’ll get a lot of votes.

Scott Tibballs was next to put his name forward. (What’s not to like about former journalists … just sayin’.)

Tibballs opened up his campaign with good question for the community … what should we do with 902 Second Avenue? He says the property was purchased as a location for the new firehall and we all know how that ended.

“One of the pillars of my platform is for Fernie to broaden its commercial tax base by attracting more business to this community,” said in his candidacy announcement. “902 represents an opportunity to do that, as right now it just sits there growing grass. It would benefit the community if it were occupied by things that paid taxes, like commercial operators or homes.”

At the very least, it needs to be talked about, which it hasn’t been.

Tibballs was also one of the first one to point out the latest building controversy … the proposal behind the Catholic Church and he supports a traffic light at the Stanford Inn intersection on Highway 3.

Next up is the first incumbent to seek re-election … Ted Shoesmith.

Shoesmith hasn’t angered too many people during his first time which could mean he’s doing a good job … or not. But he’s been pretty consistent in his positions.

He says he is running again because he wants to continue to build on the progress of current and future infrastructure projects.

“I think we need to roll up our sleeves and really focus on a lot of infrastructure that’s in need of that and we’ve done it in this term, but we need to accelerate that,” he told the Free Press.

There was one concerning item in the Free Press story, however, and that was apparently he said he would like to see more partisan politics in a small town. I hope that that was a mis-quote.

More partisan politics at the municipal level gets a ‘hard-no,’ from me. Local politics needs to focus on fixing roads, sewer pipes, and snow clearing, not whatever goofy debates our provincial politicians are having.

Local MLA Pete Davis had to walk-back some comments he made earlier this year when he suggested more Conservatives would look good on local city councils. A group called the Conservative Electors Association, has been actively trying to get conservative-minded folks to run for city councils for months. The goal, of course, is to have people pressure the provincial government from a different angle … not represent the community. The association recently appointed BC Conservative leader Kerry-Lynn Findlay as chair of its advisory board.

It’s not that conservative-minded people shouldn’t be on council, it’s that city councillors must be beholden to the people of the community they serve, not ideologically-driven politicians.

Looking forward to the next couple of weeks as more will undoubtedly put their name forward.

Born and raised in Fernie, Bill Phillips is an award-winning journalist and columnist. He was the winner of the 2009 Best Editorial award at the British Columbia/Yukon Community Newspaper Association’s Ma Murray awards, in 2007 he won the association’s Best Columnist award. In 2004, he placed third in the Canadian Community Newspaper best columnist category and, in 2003, placed second. Read more Writer’s Block here.