The filing of nominations papers has begun in the North Battleford city council byelection race in 2014, and a familiar name from municipal politics is first out of the gate.
Former councillor Ron Crush has confirmed he filed his nomination papers Monday morning at City Hall.
This will be the third time Crush, supervisor of regional services for the Water Security Agency, will have his name on the ballot for a council seat.
He served on city council for a three-year term before losing his bid for re-election in the 2012 municipal election by only 27 votes.
In speaking to the Regional Optimist Monday, Crush indicated an interest in seeing North Battleford plan ahead was a motivator in his decision to run.
"I certainly have a passion for my community," said Crush, who pointed to progress made during the time he was on council.
"I think we made some critical decisions to move and grow the community forward and those decisions are ones that need to be maintained. I believe we need to continue to plan into the future; we need to plan for the future, not let the future plan for us."
Crush expressed a desire to "see and be part of the growth," and cites infrastructure as a key issue, something "we need to be sensitive to."
He is the first candidate to officially file his candidacy since the nomination period opened Feb. 20.
Other potential candidates have unofficially expressed interest in running as well. It is anticipated more will come forward and file papers by the nomination deadline of 4 p.m. on March 12.
The byelection is scheduled for April 16 and is to fill the seat left open by the resignation of Trent Houk in January.
