Langley election campaign quiet - for now



Peter Fassbender's decision to run again for mayor of Langley City is one of the more noteworthy aspects of the municipal election campaigns in the two Langleys, thus far.

This blog post has been updated to reflect the final list of candidates, after nominations closed on Friday.

The upcoming municipal election in the two Langleys will be interesting, but not as lively as many other contests in the region.
One reason is that there is not really much of a contest for mayor in Langley Township. Incumbent Jack Froese has two challengers, but neither (Alex Joehl and Anna Remenik) is well-known and it is unlikely he will get less than 70 per cent of the vote (assuming no other challengers come forward by Friday, the close of nominations).
Seven of the eight councillors are running for re-election. They are Petrina Arnason, Michelle Sparrow, Blair Whitmarsh, Angie Quaale, Bob Long, David Davis and Kim Richter.
Only Charlie Fox is retiring. As two of the challengers are former councillors (Steve Ferguson and Bev Dornan), it is quite likely that the next council will bear a close resemblance to current council, perhaps with an added touch of the 2011-14 version. It is possible that a newcomer may secure a seat, but given the challenge of campaigning without much funds (due to the new campaign finance rules), that is a steep hill to climb. There are some solid new candidates in the race, but getting enough of the people who actually vote to check out their credentials is a tough assignment in a spread-out and growing community.
New candidates running are Gail Chaddock-Costello, Michelle Connerty, Gary Hee, Phyllis Heppner, Sunny Hundal, Margaret Kunst, Michael Pratt, Terence Sheldon, Craig Teichreib, Stacey Wakelin, Harold Whittell and Eric Woodward. Kerri Ross, who ran unsuccessfully in 2014, is running for a second time.
There are few pressing issues that have fired up large segments of the voting population. In 2014 the Brookswood-Fernridge plan was highly controversial, and that was a key reason the Unelection Campaign was set up. It targeted Froese and most members of council, and was a major factor in three incumbents being defeated. Incidentally, that was the first time an incumbent councillor had lost a seat in Langley Township since 2002.
Meanwhile in Langley City, three-term mayor Peter Fassbender, who left civic politics behind to serve a term in the provincial legislature, wants his old job back. He is taking on one-term councillor Val van den Broek, and Serena Oh, who ran for mayor of Langley Township in 2014. It will not be a cakewalk, as Fassbender’s record with the BC Liberals will be a factor, but he was a popular mayor and van den Broek is taking on a major challenge. She’s game to do so, and it may be that the residents of the City (very few of whom actually vote) are ready for someone different. Firing up voters in the City is always difficult.
There are 16 candidates for councillor. Five are incumbents (Rudy Storteboom, Nathan Pachal, Gayle Martin, Jack Arnold and Paul Albrecht), and two others are former councillors (Rosemary Wallace, who has served a term on the Langley Board of Education, and Teri James). Also running is Randy Caine, who ran for mayor in 2014. Other candidates nominated are Dave Allison, Corey Doherty, Jeff Jacobs, Bruce Kilby, Andrew Mercier, Dana L. Miller, Mike Solyom and David Stingl.
The major issues in the City are housing, transportation and dealing with the growing homelessness issue. All of these involve other levels of government, but the City can take strong positions and influence decision-makers.
The transit line to Langley City has become a major issue in the Surrey election, with former mayor (and candidate) Doug McCallum saying a SkyTrain line along Fraser Highway to the City needs to be a much higher priority than an LRT line between Newton and Guildford. Many candidates agree that SkyTrain to the City makes sense, as part of a longer-term plan to get rapid transit further up the Fraser Valley.
The City must be vigilant to ensure that the lower-rent apartments which form a big part of its housing stock are not torn down to make way for higher-end condos. People on low and fixed incomes need housing, and if the stock is diminished (as is happening in Metrotown) it leads to a great number of social problems, including homelessness.
Meanwhile, the race for seats on Langley Board of Education is very quiet.
Three incumbent trustees in the Township are running again (Rod Ross, David Tod and Megan Dykeman), while long-time trustee Alison McVeigh is stepping aside this year. Wallace is also vacating her seat, one of the five Township seats, to run for Langley City council. Suzanne Perrault, who ran in 2011, is trying again for a seat. The other candidates are Brent Larsen, Cheryl Snowdon-Eddy and Marnie Wilson.
The chances of winning one of the Township seats on the board are very good - five of the seven candidates will be victorious on Oct. 20.
The chances are not quite as good when it comes to winning one of the two seats available in Langley City. There are five candidates - incumbent Shelley Coburn and former trustee Candy Ashdown are running, and three newcomers (Marshall Austin, Sindy Jeffrey and Tony Ward have also filed.
Board chair Rob McFarlane, who holds one of the two City seats, is not running again. 

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