Let the campaigning begin.
As of Tuesday afternoon, 17 people have filed their nomination papers for the fall municipal election in London. Of those who have officially put their hat in the ring, three are running for mayor, 13 are running for one of the 14 ward councillor seats, and one has filed for school board trustee.
"We had a lineup. So we were quite busy between 8:30am and 9am," said City Clerk Cathy Saunders of the scene at the election office Tuesday morning.
Current Ward 13 Councillor Tanya Park, businessman Paul Cheng, and former police board chair Paul Paolatto officially entered the race for mayor. All three had previously announced their intent to seek the city's top job.
Both Paolatto and Park used social media to encourage supporters to be respectful and refrain from personal attacks against other candidates. In a minute and a half YouTube video, Cheng confidently said "this election is ours to win" to rally the troops in his camp.
Among the familiar faces who have filed for a councillor spot are current Ward 5 Councillor Maureen Cassidy, current Ward 4 Councillor Jesse Helmer, and former city politician Bud Polhill who lost his Ward 1 seat to Michael Van Holst in the 2014 vote.
Fresh faces include self-proclaimed poverty reduction advocate Shane Clark who is running in Ward 5 and Arielle Kayabaga who is running in Ward 13.
Due to changes to the Ontario Municipal Elections Act, the start of the nomination period was pushed from January 1 to May 1, shortening the amount of time a candidate has to campaign. Nomination papers have to be filed before a candidate can officially begin campaigning.
"[Candidates] also need to submit 25 signatures in support of their nominations and those people who are supporting the nomination must be eligible to vote in London in the municipal election," reminds Saunders. "If they are running for a ward councillor or school board trustee there is a $100 fee. If they are running for mayor it is $200. If they are bringing in a cheque it needs to be a certified cheque or money order. We also take Visa, debit or cash."
Those interested in running in the fall municipal election have until 2pm on July 27 to file their paperwork.
Londoners will go to the polls on October 22.
