I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me

Nomination day has come and gone and there were two mayoral candidates – Coun. Bill Bulger and Better Hinton co-founder Rob Mackin - who submitted their paperwork. That wasn't a surprise to anybody who's been following the lead up.

There have been some online posts that already suggest the mayoral race is over, lamenting the fact that Coun. Dale Currie reversed his initial decision to run for mayor and instead run for council.

The only thing more appalling than residents wasting time airing predictions about election outcomes this early online is the fact that people would waste time prior to that airing concerns about vote splitting in a potential three-person race. Not surprisingly, it was generally the same people singing those two different refrains. Really, let's not spend so much time concerning ourselves about outcomes or strategy when we are but hours into a campaign that doesn't finish until Oct. 21. Let's concern ourselves with the ideas and solutions candidates represent and let the election outcomes be driven from the collection and dissemination of that useful information. 

"Really, let's not spend so much time concerning ourselves about outcomes or strategy when we are but hours into a campaign that doesn't finish until Oct. 21. Let's concern ourselves with the ideas and solutions candidates represent and let the election outcomes be driven from the collection and dissemination of that useful information."

Bill Bulger is a two-term councillor with intimate knowledge of, among other things, local seniors issues and care. Mackin is a businessman who has shown a propensity for research on municipal issues. Those candidate summaries are but a mere fraction of what both these individuals represent, it's up to residents to take every opportunity to try and delve deeper. We will try to do our part by helping to host the candidate forum Oct. 7 at the Legion, by publishing candidate answers to residents' questions on a weekly basis, as well as a series of feature stories on issues that people should be sure they understand heading into the election.

And while there were no surprises on nomination day with regard to the mayoral race, that was not the case with the council race where 12 candidates submitted paperwork. 

The list includes incumbent councillors Currie, Jane Macridis, Ryan Maguhn and Lorraine Johnston-MacKay. The list also includes people who had previously declared their intention to run, like former councillor Stephen Mitchell, Marcel Michaels, Matthew Young and Glen Barrow. Then there were four other candidates in former Wildrose Party candidate Stuart Taylor, who was seen out canvassing on the weekend, as well as Bryan Chabot, Darwin Gorman and Katie Everett. It seems silly to say that Everett was a relatively unknown because, in hindsight, she had attended a Chamber information meeting in June for potential candidates, as well as a videoconferencing session in September for potential candidates. So, we will admit, maybe she showed more than a passing interest in the roles and responsibilities of councillors and shouldn't be labeled as a surprise candidate.

Nomination day was also interesting for who showed up to check out what was happening - namely former mayor Bruce Deal and former councillor Tony Sitar - who told me the most council candidates he recalled ever seeing was 13 at one time. So the 12 we currently have isn't far from a record, and easily the most since I showed up in town in 2004. But that number pales in comparison to the 20 council candidates on the slate for Jasper. 

There are also 11 on the slate for Edson, though the most interesting thing to come out of Edson is the mayoral race. Incumbent Greg Pasychny will seek a fourth term as mayor, but in his way is Robert Wilkinson. Why does that name sound familiar, you ask? It was a Robert Wilkinson who earned 15 minutes of fame in late 2011 for a rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody he recorded in the back of an Edson police cruiser after being detained. 

Check out the link here.

Don't know if his candidacy is serious, but we think we know his campaign theme song. 

At a local county level, incumbent Brule/Cadomin/Robb councillor, Lavone Olson, is being challenged by former Yellowhead County mayor Jack Williams, who currently runs the constituency office for West Yellowhead MLA Robin Campbell.

Had an interesting chat with Rhonda West, returning elections officer for the Town of Hinton, while the clock was ticking down on nominations today. She was wondering if the media was going to do a check on whether the nominations were valid. I always assumed elections officials did that. I was surprised. Apparently candidates sign something that indicates they meet eligibility requirements and officials do not check to see if all the criteria are fulfilled. It's an honour system. From what I understand, nobody checks to see if candidates meet eligibility requirements like residency or if they owe the municipality money. I didn't have the time to fact check everyone's nomination information or other eligibility criteria, but I did put in a formal media request with administration to check and make sure candidates don't owe the town money. Seems the least I can do, and will do.

So there you have it, that's your nomination day rundown. Remember, nominations are not official until noon on Tuesday. So things may yet change (especially if there are any candidates who owe money!!!!), but it's highly unlikely.

Then again, is it any more unlikely than an Edson mayoral candidate whose reported claim to fame so far is a poor Freddie Mercury impersonation posted on the internet?

Mama mia, mama mia.

(Editor's note, an earlier version of this blog stated Greg Pasychny will seek his third term as mayor of Edson and fourth on council, but I was corrected by reader Kevin Zahara. I double checked with the Town of Edson web site and he was right, of course. Thanks Kevin.)