THUNDER BAY – The first sitting member of Thunder Bay’s city council has officially thrown their hat into the ring for re-election in 2022.
Coun. Brian Hamilton, a business owner first elected in 2018, filed his nomination papers to run again in the McKellar Ward at city hall Friday.
He’s the only new candidate to do so since Tuesday, in a race that’s been slow out of the blocks since nominations opened this week. Only six candidates have filed to run for council seats, and none have filed so far in the four local school board elections.
In the McKellar Ward, Hamilton will face businesswoman Lori Paras, who captured 3,767 votes running for an at-large seat in 2018.
Other candidates declared as of Friday afternoon included Jason Veltri in the Red River Ward, and Bill Dell, Chris Krumpholz, and Dominic Pasqualino in the Northwood Ward.
Mayor Bill Mauro also confirmed earlier this year he intends to seek a second term.
Candidates have until Aug. 19 to file their nomination papers with the city clerk.
Incumbents may have infamously high rates of re-election in municipal elections, but Hamilton said he’s not taking anything for granted in his second run for office.
“For me personally, it might be tougher, because I now have a voting record,” he said. “I’m probably not going to have a 100 per cent voting record with every resident, but I think McKellar Ward residents see that I’m all in it for Thunder Bay.”
Hamilton said his focus for a second term would be on seeing major projects launched during the current term through to the finish line.
He cited rebuilds of parts of both the north and south end downtowns, expanding the bylaw enforcement division, synchronizing traffic lights, and renovations to the conservatory as potentially transformative projects that remain to be completed.
“There’s already so much work that’s been done as a council,” he said. “I want to finish what we started.”
The city needs to focus on rehabilitating existing infrastructure and refrain from major new projects, Hamilton added (he was among a slim majority to vote against a proposed $39 million tender for an indoor sports complex in 2021).
“I’m really going to be focused on repairing and rehabilitating what we have already,” he said. “I’m going to be talking a lot about the infrastructure gap in the next few months."
Residents can track who has filed to run in the municipal election at the city's election website, which is updated each weekday.
Anyone considering running in the election can find information at the city’s election website for candidates or call the city clerk’s office at (807) 627-3859.
