Ryan Bater will become the new mayor of North Battleford by acclamation.
The first-term city councillor and former provincial Liberal leader was the only candidate to file papers for mayor in time for the 4 p.m. nomination deadline Sept. 21.
While nominations closed at that time for all mayor and council positions, there was still a 24-hour window for candidates to remove their names from the ballot.
That window came and went, and at 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon it was officially confirmed Bater will succeed Ian Hamilton as mayor of North Battleford in November.
The ascension of Bater to the mayor’s chair caps a surprising turn of events that started last week.
Hamilton had been all set to run for a third term before making his surprise announcement last Monday that he would not be running again.
That opened the door for Bater, who had planned to seek re-election to council.
Bater will be officially sworn in Nov. 7 along with the rest of the new council.
As for who will join him on council, that is still to be decided on Election Day Oct. 26. It promises to be an exciting race for the six available council seats, with four incumbents seeking seats along with 11 other challengers, some of whom have considerable past council experience.
The sitting incumbents nominated for re-election include Don Buglas, seeking his fifth term; Greg Lightfoot and Cathy Richardson, seeking their second terms; and Kelli Hawtin who would be seeking her first full term after winning a byelection to replace Trent Houk two years ago.
Challengers include:
Herman Bugler Jr., who works in human resources with Living Sky School Division;
Steven Cormons, who has been on the council ballot before and whose experience is in the social services field;
Colin Evans, librarian with Lakeland Library Region;
Grace Lang, Sobey's co-owner and a former long-time city councilor;
Kent Lindgren, HIV project co-ordinator who has served as president of Battlefords NDP provincial riding association;
Darren Olson, executive director with a non-profit who was active on North Battleford’s centennial committee during 2013;
Wayne Ray, accountant and a former mayor of the city of North Battleford;
Don Salie, retired insurance broker and a former longtime North Battleford city councillor;
Kevin Steinborn, former HUB chair who recently departed his long-time role as deputy fire chief with the City of North Battleford;
Len Taylor, former NDP MP and MLA and former health minister, who served on council previously from 2000 to 2003; and
Guy Turcotte, casino technician and founder of the Facebook group North Battleford Victims of Crime.
As with the mayor’s race, all candidates had until 4 p.m. Sept. 22 to withdraw their names from the ballot. None withdrew, so they will all appear on the Oct. 26 ballot for council.
While the focus is clearly on those running in the North Battleford municipal race, one notable name from the current council will not be back on the ballot.
Ray Fox, who has been a strong voice for aboriginal issues on council, did not file nomination papers by the 4 p.m. deadline.
That will bring a conclusion to Fox’s 13-year tenure on North Battleford city council.
