Although the Neskonlith Indian Band held an election of chief and council in January, another election is in the offing.
Electoral officer Bruce Mack posted notice that an election will be held on Thursday, July 30 for chief and four councillors.
Coun. Louis Thomas, who was acclaimed as councillor for Salmon Arm in the January election, will retain his seat on council because, as the lone candidate, there was no election for his position.
A nomination meeting was held on Tuesday, June 9 in Neskonlith Hall in Chase, where unofficial results show three people were nominated as candidates for chief and 10 for the four council positions.
Mack told the Market News there was an appeal of the election which was upheld by an adjudicator.
“There certainly wasn’t any inappropriate behaviour or action on the part of any candidate,” Mack explained.
Mack said in the Neskonlith election code, a person is ineligible to run for band council if they have any outstanding debts to the band. However, for administrative reasons, Mack said, that was waived for the last election.
Someone then appealed on the basis that it was a breach of the code, he said, and the adjudicator agreed.
Unofficial nomination results show that vying for the chief’s position, now filled by Chief Judy Wilson who was elected in January for her third term, are Wilson, Janice Billy and Randy Narcisse.
Narcisse ran for chief in the last election but Billy did not. Bonnie Thomas ran for the chief’s position in the January election, placing second, but she did not put her name forward this time.
Nine candidates competed for the five council spots in January.
Along with Louis Thomas, three incumbents were elected – Art Anthony, Karen R. August and Joan Manuel-Hooper – as well as newcomer Fay Ginther.
This time, the 10 people nominated (unofficially) for the four open positions are the four candidates elected last time, as well as: Margaret Denault, Frank Denault, Randy Sam, Jennifer Dick, Renee Narcisse and Dwayne Manuel.