By day's end Friday (Oct. 10), Squamish residents will know who their choices will be for the seven council seats and mayoral seat on Nov. 15.Currently, one mayoral and 11 council candidates have signed up, but several more are expected to drop off their paper before today's 4 p.m. cut off.Coun. Greg Gardner has signed on to run for mayor, and, despite a public announcement that he was thinking of running, Ron Bahm Sr. has yet to file papers. Gardner will not run unopposed, however, since long time council watchdog Terrill Patterson has vowed to make his traditional political statement of filing papers for mayor if no other candidate arises. Patterson is also running for trustee of School District 48 along with Andrew Beaubien.Meanwhile, a few council candidates are drawing attention to themselves with public appearances - Gardner attended federal Conservative candidate John Weston's meet and greet (see page A9) and council candidate Donna Billy spoke at Squamish's federal all-candidates' meeting (see page A1). Council candidate Bryan Raiser went furthest afield, returning late last week from representing Squamish during a trip to Shimizu, Japan, which just celebrated its 45th anniversary as Squamish's sister city. While in Shimizu, Raiser met with the city's mayor, deputy mayor and their families."I could not believe it as not only did the mayor come out to say 'Hi,' he insisted that my lovely wife, brother, and sister in-law/translator also come into his office for tea with him and his staff," said Raiser in a news release. "People dropped everything just to make us feel welcome. The mayor even offered a tour of the city on his boat but heavy rains made it impossible."Raiser said one thing that stood out during the visit is how Japan is a society of respect and the honour, which they bestow upon their sister city in a "quite remarkable" way. "It was my first time filling a role of international dignitary and I was humbled at the respect and appreciation these people showed us," he said."Although the visit was only a short afternoon, as they said, 'We always have time for our sister city friends.'"
