With a single news release from Squamish New Directions (SND), we officially entered silly season this week.
Ian Sutherland, Dave Fenn, Sonja Lebans, Ray Peters and Jeff Dawson all announced on the same day that they will run in the next election.
All five want to keep their current seats on council.
The early move by SND should be a wake up call for anyone who isn't on council that is thinking of taking a run at council.
The only way to knock the existing members of council out of their seats is to mount a strong campaign. It will be very difficult for anyone with a low profile to launch a campaign in September or later, and be successful.
Looking at the results of the last election, it is apparent that in order to win a councillor seat in the upcoming election a candidate needs to have a support base of at least 2,500 votes.
Campaigning is ultimately selling yourself. And for most people it is very difficult to talk about your own merits. Convincing more than 2,500 people that you have what it takes is a significant undertaking and for other council hopefuls, if the work doesn't start soon the chances of success decrease with each week that passes.
Those who believe the community is ready to vote out this current council could challenge my theory. Based on the results of the $20 million recreation amenities referendum, some may argue this council isn't doing a good job and it is upsetting the voters.
Based on what I hear in my travels, there isn't a significant uprising against this current council and the base of support Sutherland and his team took into the last election is mainly intact.
SND threw down the gauntlet this week and in the coming weeks we will find out if the upstart political group is going to face any serious opposition as we roll through the summer months.
No doubt many are waiting anxiously to see what Corinne Lonsdale and Paul Lalli do as they are two people with enough profile to be elected and they both have previous experience on council.
Lonsdale is the most experienced local politician in town and if she decides not to seek re-election then there is a guaranteed place at the council table for a new face. Lonsdale isn't offering any hints about her future, but she has had a sometimes-frustrating year on council and she may like the idea of stepping out on her own terms.
No matter what Lonsdale and any other potential candidates decide, the campaign is on and you can expect Sutherland, Dawson, Fenn, Lebans and Peters to promote themselves and their re-election bid whenever and wherever it is appropriate for them to do so.
