WEDNESDAY
S I N C E
NOVEMBER 5, 2014
1 8 9 5
Vol. 119, Issue 173
105
$
INCLUDING G.S.T.
Ice falls to top team Page 11
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PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
Warfield citizens take opportunity to grill candidates BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
It was standing room only and the crowd didn't hold back. Six years without a civic election seems to have Warfield all fired up because at Monday night’s all-candidates forum the questions came hard and fast for all the names up for council Nov. 15. The evening opened with the panel of nine candidates, three for mayor, six for council, giving a three-minute insight into their respective campaigns before moderator Catherine Adair got down to the nitty gritty. Considering the large turnout, it was apparent that electors wanted answers because the Warfield Community Hall remained quiet during the twohour grilling about property tax increments, council's unilateral call to halt the library/recreation agreement with Trail, the ambiguity of a candidate meet-andgreet, and the ongoing talk of amalgamating the region. Alongside those concerns was the underlying atmosphere of old guard versus newcomer. First out of the gate, was a two-part inquiry that suggested a large tax bite is coming due to Warfield tax levies being disproportionate with the rising costs of services. Each candidate was asked what they were prepared to do to cover future costs in the village and at the regional district level. While all agreed that gradual tax increases are inevitable to meet Warfield's service and facility demands, first-time mayoral
SHERI REGNIER PHOTO
There wasn’t an empty seat in the Warfield Community Hall, while others improvised seating arrangements, for Monday night’s all-candidates forum. candidate Ted Pahl replied that council-to-community engagements must factor into how village money should be spent. Long serving Warfield politicians Bill Trewhella and Jim Nelson, both in the running
Advance voting begins today T LL EN FU EM EL S D BA MO
for the top seat, maintain that Warfield should be getting a cut from Teck's industrial taxes, each ensuring they are ready to level the playing field and sit down for discussions with the company. Former village councillor Bill
BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
Advance voting opportunities open today from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. at the Trail Aquatic and Leisure Centre on Columbia Ave., the Fruitvale Municipal Office on Beaver Street, the Montrose office on 11th Ave.,and Warfield’s village office on Schofield Highway. Eligible electors may register at the time of voting by completing the required application
form at the voting place, but must be 18 years of age or older, a Canadian citizen, a resident of BC for at least six months preceding the day of registration, and a resident or registered owner of property for at least 30 days immediately preceding the day of registration. And when it’s time to select a candidate, voters aren’t required to select the maximum choices if they don’t want to. Rules to mark a ballot are
Bain, now in the running for one of four seats, said that people in Trail should realize when they cry there's a $100 problem, they only have to find $38. “When we have a $100 problem, we have to find $100.” clear – although there’s more than enough names vying to fill the four or six-person local councils, voters can chose “up to” their communities’ respective number of seats. In Rossland and Trail, that means eligible electors have the option of choosing one mayor, a lone candidate or up to six candidates for council and in the Silver City, one or two names for school trustee. Warfield and Montrose resi-
Incumbents John Crozier, Tom Milne and Jim Nelson were then asked point blank, why they made the “arbitrary” decision to pull out of the Trail Residency Program without community See CANDIDATES, Page 3 dents can chose one candidate for mayor and between one and four candidates for council. There isn’t a mayoral race in Fruitvale this year, but villagers can choose between one and four candidates for council positions. On an added note, marking more than the available council or trustee positions, will deem the ballot spoiled at the time of voting, or rejected at the time ballots are counted.
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