The race for mayor and council in North Battleford is set with nomination filings wrapping up at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
The race for mayor of North Battleford is up to five people. Misa Nikolic was the fourth candidate to officially join the race this week. According to the profile posted at the city's candidates' page, Misa has worked in the arts sector for over thirty years and has administrative experience as a project coordinator and non-profit board member; he relocated to North Battleford in February to work at the Allen Sapp Gallery and the city’s Historic Archives.
Among the policies Nikolic supports is "to return North Battleford to its traditional role as a cultural and economic hub for the region", to "address the city’s crime rate, which has been an issue for decades," and to "push for greater accountability with a restructuring of the city’s administration."
On his Facebook campaign page, a news release was posted stating that one of Nikolic's key goals was to "elevate social issues to the top of the agenda, especially the long-standing question of crime prevention." He is quoted saying "we have to address the underlying social causes of crime -- intergenerational poverty, homelessness, addiction, and institutionalized racism -- and that starts with a reconciliation process that becomes a daily and self-renewing aspect of municipal government."
There has been late word that a fifth candidate, James Sieben, has filed nomination papers to run for mayor. More details on his candidacy are expected soon.
The other three candidates in the race for mayor are incumbent Ryan Bater, David Gillan and Lois Laing.
As of 4 p.m. on Wednesday the city of North Battleford's website was reporting that the number of people who had filed to run for council was up to 13 names.
Incumbents Greg Lightfoot and Len Taylor are the two latest council members to file nomination papers for council. Lightfoot, who owns and is senior financial advisor at Hein Financial Group, is seeking his third term.
At his city election profile Lightfoot states: "My commitment is to make North Battleford a safe, comfortable, and attractive place for all, and to continue to draw new business and residents to our community. With my experience in budgeting and fiscal responsibility, I will work to keep taxes low and continue to pay down debt."
Taylor is also seeking a third council term, in addition to stints as an MP and MLA. In a news release, the Taylor campaign noted the last four years on city council have been challenging because of funding issues, senior administration staff changes, and the unexpected COVID circumstances, but Taylor believes "the next two years will be even more important in the city as it prepares to recover from COVID closures and other challenges, because the city will experience reduced provincial funding, reduced revenue from city services, and increased costs for very important police and other protective services."
The news release also states that the most important benefit Taylor will bring to council "is an understanding of the city’s past, present, and future with experience as well as a proven history of community commitment and common sense."
Also filing papers is Thomas (Bill) Ironstand. According to his election profile at the city’s website, Ironstand is a lifelong resident of North Battleford and his platform includes: “clearly identifying the effectiveness of the Community Crime initiatives; spending money on infrastructure that makes sense to all citizens; asking questions of leadership when citizens voice concerns; youth initiatives.”
Two more candidates have filed as of Monday afternoon:
Ross MacAngus, who has worked as a peace officer for 18 years in North Battleford and most recently in Battleford, is in the race. Among his priorities listed at his city candidates' profile: MacAngus supports upgrading infrastructure but "we must make sure they are picking the right projects," and says that "making people feel safe and growing our community are things I will focus on if elected to council."
Sheldon Rafuse has also filed papers to join the council race. Rafuse is born and raised in North Battleford and according to his profile posted at the city's election page, he wants to see property tax addressed.
"We have all witnessed an increase in property tax and crime rates, and if elected, I want to focus on lowering residential and commercial property tax. It is crucial for North Battleford to offer reasonable residential and commercial tax rates in order to attract and retain families and businesses. My plan is to focus on creating long-term job opportunities that will result in growth for our economy. I am passionate about working for the people of North Battleford and will strive to attain a safe, attractive, and affordable city to live and raise a family.
On Tuesday came word that Valorie Higgs has also joined the race. Higgs is a longtime former employee of the Battlefords News-Optimist sales department.
On her candidate profile page Higgs points to that experience as an "excellent and rewarding opportunity to connect with our business community. This allowed me to come to understand its concerns, challenges, and vision. As a newspaper employee, I also connected with our citizens and listened to and related to their concerns. Presently, I am self-employed and can now devote my time to work for and serve our community."
Other candidates who filed their papers last week, in order of nomination, are Matthew Parker, incumbent Kent Lindgren, incumbent Kelli Hawtin, Warren Williams, Dennis Mercer, Clay Lazar and George Plews.
With nominations now closed, it is now confirmed that incumbent councillors Kevin Steinborn and Don Buglas will not seek re-election.Steinborn had served just one term, while Buglas wraps up five consecutive terms on council.
The nomination deadline was Oct. 7 at 4 p.m.; afterwards, all candidates have 24 hours to remove their names from the ballot before their nominations become official. The municipal Election Day is Nov. 9.
