The City of Castlegar will be holding a byelection on Saturday, April 24, 2021.
While the byelection was originally needed to fill the position of mayor after Bruno Tassone resigned in January, it will now also be for at least one council seat.
Councillor Florio Vassilakakis has decided to run for the mayor position, prompting the need for him to step down from his council seat.
RELATED: City councillor Florio Vassilakakis announces plans to run for Castlegar mayor
The remaining councillors have until Feb. 17 to decide if they would like to run for the mayor position. If another councillor also decides to run for mayor, there would be more than one council seat on the ballot.
So far, Gord Lamont is the only other person to publicly announce intentions to run for mayor.
RELATED: Gord Lamont second candidate to run for mayor
Candidate packages will be available starting Feb. 17. with a return period of March 9-19.
A list of candidates will be announced at 4 p.m. on March 19.
General voting will take place on April 24 at the Castlegar and District Community Complex between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Advance voting will take place at the same location on April 14 and April 21 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
The city will be requesting permission from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs to allow a mail-in ballot option.
Nicole Brown has been appointed as the chief election officer with Tracey Butler and Michelle Anderson acting as deputy chief election officers.
The total cost of the byelection is estimated to be $35,000. This includes staffing, facility rental, voting machines and ballots, advertising and COVID supplies such as masks and plexiglass dividers.
betsy.kline@castlegarnews.com
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