Gear acclaimed, two-person races for remaining Norwich council seats

Luke Edwards, Post Correspondent

There will be a choice for voters to make for all but one council seat in Norwich this fall.

Incumbent Shawn Gear was the only candidate to submit papers to run in Ward 3 for the Oct. 26 municipal elections. As a result, he’s been acclaimed and will represent the ward for the next four-year term.

The remaining seats will have a race, though each will be a contest between only two people.

All incumbents are seeking re-election, though one councillor has his eyes on the mayor’s seat and a second will be running in a new ward. For mayor, incumbent Jim Palmer is running for another term. He’ll be going up against Adrian Couwenberg, the current councillor for Ward 4.

Ward 1 will see a new representative, as incumbent Karl Toews is running for the Ward 4 seat, leaving voters to decide between Marius Kerkhoff and Roy King.

In Ward 2, Lynne DePlancke is asking voters to give her another mandate, with Tim Thompson looking to unseat the incumbent.

And in Ward 4, Toews will be going up against Lacey Hird.

Advanced voting in Norwich opens on Oct. 17 at the Norwich Community Centre. Election day is Oct. 26 and the new term begins on Nov. 17.

For more details on the Norwich election, visit elections.norwich.ca.