THUNDER BAY – At the start of Friday, Neebing had the fewest candidates of any of the city’s ward races. By the nomination deadline in the afternoon, it had the most.
The Thunder Bay municipal election races are now finalized, with a total of 61 candidates seeking mayor and city council positions.
In total, 16 current and former members of Thunder Bay city council will be running in the Oct. 22 election. All incumbents but Mayor Keith Hobbs and McKellar Coun. Paul Pugh are standing for election.
Four last-minute entrants officially filed their candidacy for Neebing, with Richard Gunn, Cody Fraser, Robin Rickards and Roberta Sawchyn joining four-term incumbent Linda Rydholm on the ballot.
The already crowded mayor’s race grew by one with Wolfgang Schoor adding his name to a field that already includes current at-large councillors Iain Angus and Frank Pullia, former MPP Bill Mauro, Kevin Cernjul, Mariann Sawicki, Shane Judge, Ron Chookomolin, Jim Gamble, Ed Hailio and Peter Panetta.
The at-large list has 26 names, including incumbents Larry Hebert, Rebecca Johnson and Aldo Ruberto, along with current McIntyre representative Trevor Giertuga, former Northwood councillor Mark Bentz, Schreiber mayor Mark Figliomeni, Diane Armstrong, Moe Comuzzi, Kim Ducharme, Jim Howie, Chris Krumpholz, Derek Lankinen, Stephen Margarit, Tracey MacKinnon, Charmaine McCraw, Lori Paras, Marty Rajala, Viktor Saari, Orville Santa, Norm Staal, Jim Stadey, Lawrence Timko, Jeff Upton, Margaret Wanlin, Frank Wazinski and Peng You.
Two wards are guaranteed to have new faces, with Albert Aiello, Adam Gulbinowicz and Wesley Ramage vying for McIntyre.
Meanwhile, Brian Hamilton, Robert Jankovic, Donald McLeod and Ashley Nurmela will be contesting McKellar.
In Current River, three-time incumbent Andrew Foulds will face past councillor Dick Waddington, Jamie Cressman and Andy Wolff.
Northwood will be a two-person race between Shelby Ch’ng and Mo El Kahil.
A trio of hopefuls are eyeing Red River, with incumbent Brian McKinnon taking on 2014 challenger David George Noonan and Donna Brown.
Westfort will also feature a 2014 rematch with Joe Virdiramo once again being challenged by runner-up Frank Scarcello, with Kristen Oliver also in the fray.
There are 101 people who have filed their candidacy when including the school board races.
City clerk and returning officer John Hannam said that is an increase from four years ago, with the mayoral and at-large fields possibly having the largest fields in the city's history.
“I think it just indicates there’s a strong interest in the community about how city hall runs and how it’s governed with lots of folks willing to offer themselves up in service to the community,” Hannam said. “I think it’s a very positive thing. It’s good to see.”
