Well, election day is almost here professor, any predictions?

If the usual scenario is followed four of the present bunch will be back duking it out around the council table mainly because they have garnered enough publicity to familiarize their names to voters and not necessarily because we love ‘em.

 If the 40.67 per cent turnout of voters in the last Sooke election holds this time, well over half of the residents of Sooke couldn’t care less about how our community is run.

 But there is much more interest here than in neighbouring Langford where a mere 21.78 of the voters turned out last time while in Colwood the turnout was 24.77 per cent.

 The half who do care are sitting at home waiting to storm the council chambers whenever a NIMBY issue arises. 

 There are 10 candidates for six council seats compared with 18 the last time around which is an indication that not many of our leading citizens are willing to take a flutter at the thankless job of municipal councillor here.

 Even a jump in stipend from $8,000 to $10,000, still not enough for the amount of work involved, didn’t help.

 One of the most common complaints among people who attend council meetings is the bickering that goes on around the council table, ably refereed by Mayor Janet Evans.

 We can look forward to at least two new faces on council, maybe more if some of the grumbling I hear about some incumbents seeking re-election is true.

 I was very surprised that politically smart Brenda Parkinson was the only person seeking re-election who refused to give her age in a Sooke New Mirror profile.

 The two favourites for the vacant seats would appear to be Old Sookie Herb Haldane and former school principal Dave Bennett while Maja Tait has impressed those who attended all-candidates’ meetings. I have often said that when Gail Hall is at a council meeting she is the smartest person in the room, but politician she ain’t because she refuses to campaign.

 Herb Haldane has had his share of battles with the mayor over the years on development issues. His mission in life, it seems, is to become a Sooke councillor. In fact he wanted the job so badly last time around that he spent a bundle of money on a full-page ad in the Sooke News Mirror to promote his candidacy. It almost worked, he just missed getting elected.

 A political rookie, Bennett has the advantage of being a retired school principal and therefore is known to a lot of people.

 While the election of the new councillors would seem to be fairly predictable, the race for mayor is something else again if for no other reason than Rick Kasper is not only the best-known councillor but has a base of close to 2,000 people who voted for him last time, compared with 1,471 who supported Janet Evans.

 If Rick could hang on to that base he could become mayor Rick.

 A purely unscientific poll that I took among my Whiffen Spit walking friends yielded three Kasperites and three for Janet so it could be close.

 The unknown factor is the third candidate, businessman Randy Welters, a long-shot but possibly a spoiler in the mayoralty race. As former president of the SookeChamber of Commerce he can be expected to have a strong business following and he is mounting a strong campaign that could drain votes from the other candidates and bring him up the middle.

 On the whole, Sooke voters seem to be content with the status quo which is good news for the mayor.

 Downtown beautification hasn’t happened yet and a Sooke town centre assessment is currently under way, though the bureaucratic gobbledygook associated with it leaves something to be desired. How about: “The success of the Sooke Town Centre Plan is dependent on understanding the strengths but also in recognizing the  potential barriers to a vibrant town centre.”

 The only potentially explosive issue is the huge overrun in the Official Community Plan Review costs of which, according to a Sooke News Mirror report, started out at $86,500, has escalated to $107.842 and will end up at a projected $146,500, all unbeknownst to council members. Look for the fur on this one.

 The school board races is totally predictable. Margot Swinburnson, super fisherman Rob Gordy and Bob Phillips seem to have created for themselves second careers as school trustees and will be back.

 Another superfisherman, Mike Hicks has embarked on a Barak Obama-like advertising campaign to win the top political job in the JDF Regional District and if that doesn’t do it, nothing will.

Thank you professor.

Y’re welcome.

OOOPS! Blame it on a senior moment, but for my  review of the Timothy Chooi concert in last week’s Sooke News Mirror I wrote a heading that referred to him as a “pianist” when in fact he is a violinist.

Apologies to Timothy who no doubt now has a collector’s item for his scrapbook.