There will be an election for one division of Ponoka County council while others are acclaimed.
When the nomination deadline passed at noon on Sept. 18, four out of the five divisions saw the incumbents return by acclamation.
Unlike 2013, Nancy Hartford in Rimbey area Division 4 will head to the ballot box on Oct. 16 with Jason Valstar getting his nomination in under the wire — submitting the paperwork with about 30 minutes prior to the noon deadline — to run against her.
The rest were acclaimed.
Ponoka area councillors Mark Matejka in Division 2, Bryce Liddle in Division 1 and Doug Weir in Division 3 were all unopposed following their first terms on council, while Rimbey area Division 4 councillor Paul McLauchlin won yet another term without a challenge.
School boards
There will be a couple races among the two local school boards this year along with some openings left to fill.
For Wolf Creek Public Schools (WCPS), there were two candidates acclaimed as trustees while two spots remain open and the other two wards will see a contested election.
Current board chair Lorrie Jess was the lone candidate to submit a nomination to represent the Ponoka area of Ward 2, while Brent Buchanan was the only person to be nominated for the two trustee positions in Ward 5 that covers the Lacombe/Blackfalds area.
And, as of the Sept. 18 deadline, no one had stepped up to represent Ward 1 — Alix/Clive area — and one Lacombe/Blackfalds trustee spot remained empty.
Meanwhile, Gwen Olsen is challenging incumbent Pamela Hansen in Ward 4 (Eckville/Bentley) and incumbent Trudy Bratland in Ward 3 (Rimbey) will be up against Melinda McLauchlin.
As for the St. Thomas Aquinas Roman (STAR) Catholic School Division, Dan Svitich was acclaimed for the Ponoka area.
