There will be at least three new councilors in Chatham-Kent following the Oct. 24 municipal election.
When the 2 pm nomination deadline passed Friday, three sitting councilors – Coun. Doug Sulman, Co. Joe Faas, and Coun. Mark Authier – had not filed for re-election.
With the three councilors leaving municipal politics, decades of political experience will be lost when the next term begins.
Sulman is the last of the original councilors elected to the first council of Chatham-Kent following municipal amalgamation in 1998. He also served 12 years as an alderman on the former City of Chatham council.
Faas, who previously confirmed his intention not to run again, leaves behind a political career that began with his election to the former Dresden town council in 1977, where he served for 21 years, including eight as mayor, before spending 19 years on Chatham- Kent council.
Authier, a Tilbury resident, is leaving municipal politics after serving two terms in West Kent.
The mayor’s race will see incumbent Darrin Canniff running against two political newcomers – Andy Fisher, a 31-year-old truck driver from Chatham, and 72-year-old retiree Bill Pickard of Thamesville.
Sixteen candidates are vying for one of the six seats in Chatham Ward 6. With Sulman not seeking re-election, incumbents Michael Bondy, Marjorie Crew, Amy Finn, Karen Kirkwood-Whyte and Brock McGregor will be facing 11 challengers, including Derek Robertson, who previously served as a Chatham councilor after being elected in 2006. Robertson was also elected as school board trustee for the Lambton Kent District school board in 2018.
The other candidates are Alysson Storey, who ran for mayor in the last municipal election, Conor Allin, Andrew Elliott, Michael Gibbons, Sheila M. Martin, Lynn O’Brien, Bonny Pigeon, Dava Robichaud, Larry Vellinga and Carson Warrener
Both incumbents in Wallaceburg – Carmen McGregor and Aaron Hall – will be acclaimed since no one else filed to run in Ward 5.
The departure of Authier leaves lone incumbent Melissa Harrigan, who will be vying up against candidates Lauren Anderson, Sandy Maynard and David Serednicki for the two available seats in West Kent.
Jamie McGrail is also the lone North Kent incumbent with Faas’ decision not to run. She will face a challenge from candidates Dennis Fox, Rhonda Jubenville, Scott Kilbride, Jim Konecny, Aaron Neaves, Jason Sayer and Steven Scott for the two seats in Ward 4.
East Kent incumbents Steve Pinsonneault and John Wright will have to fend off challengers Martin Fisher, Matt Lamarche and Morena McDonald in order to keep their seats in Ward 3.
David Van Damme, who previously served as an East Kent councilor from 2014 to 2018, announced in June his intention to run again but officially withdrew as a candidate on Friday.
The three incumbents in South Kent Ward 2 – Anthony Ceccacci, Mary Clare Latimer and Trevor Thompson – will face a challenge from candidates Ryan Doyle and Mike Walker.