Recent History – 1999
Oct. 18, 1999
By Daily News Staff
The battlefield has unfolded for 39 candidates for 18 positions on Dawson Creek’s council, the South Peace school board and the Peace River Regional District board. At the close of nominations last Friday, three people had filed their nomination papers for mayor and 16 for council.
That’s more than three years ago, when two ran for mayor and 11 for council, but less than 1993, when there were five for mayor and 17 for council.
Incumbent mayor Blair Lekstrom is running again for his second term, and so is ex-mayor Bill Kusk, who lost to Lekstrom in 1996 with 20.6 per cent of the popular vote. Lekstrom had 79.4 per cent.
Newcomer for the mayoral position is David Twombly, a 40-year-old Dawson Creek resident.
Twombly has worked as a school bus driver, handi-dart and taxi operator, and has also experience in computer manufacture and computer design and operation. He’s running on a platform called A Time for Change, A Time for Growth.
Only three of the current six councillors are running for another term on council. Dale Bumstead, Dave Martin and Brent Neumann have not entered the race. Bob Gibbs, Frank Grant and Marcheta Leoppky are going for another term on council.
In 1996, Leoppky was the only woman running for a council position, this time around she is joined by four others, Sheila Barnes, Myrna Gardner, Fern Hansen and Kimeal Shearing Cooke.
Others running for Dawson Creek council are Mike Caisley, John Calderwood, Paul Gevatkoff, Calvin Kruk, Michael McPhail, Tim Mottishaw, Bud Powell, Alvin Stedel and Ric Zachary.
School Board
Thirteen candidates are vying for one of seven spots on the board of School District 59, but one is sure of a spot by acclamation. School board elections are run in five areas in the South Peace, with one or two positions for each area.
Bev Hendricks is the only candidate for Pouce Coupe and contiguous rural area and is guaranteed to fill that one position.
Four candidates will compete for the two positions for Dawson Creek. Incumbent trustees Moon Mah and Jim Noble are joined by newcomers Wayne Mould and Dan Przybylski.
A similar situation exists for the two Chetwynd positions, where incumbents Yvonne Elden (current school board chair) and Bob Shirley are running against newcomers Maureen Hawkins and Elmer Kabush.
Two candidates compete for one Tumbler Ridge trustee position, Tom Dall and Sheila Lang. Dall is also running for Tumbler Ridge council.
For Area 5, the rural area west of Dawson Creek towards Chetwynd, there are two candidates, Judy Clavier and Grant Hommy. That position is currently held by former board chair Patrick Michiel.
Regional District
Eight of the 12 positions on the Peace River Regional District board will be taken up by representatives from the municipalities in the North and South Peace (Fort St. John has two positions because it has more than 15,000 population.) The remaining four positions come from rural areas B to D.
As the only candidate for Area B, current chair Karen Goodings is assured of a board position, as is Tim Caton, the incumbent candidate for Area E.
Edged out in a controversial election for Area D, three years ago, Allen Watson will take on incumbent director Albert Erbe, joined by newcomer Pearl DePrez.
Larry will be elected for the position for Area C, to be vacated by Short Tompkins who is not seeking re-election. Larry Houley and Larry Wade are both running for that spot.