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No election in Queen Charlotte

There will be no municipal election in Queen Charlotte this year, after one of the candidates withdrew her name earlier this week.Jennifer Dysart's withdrawal left just four candidates, exactly the number needed to fill the four seats that are available. The remaining candidates are Ellen Cranston, Richard Decembrini, Sabrina Frazier, and Jo-Anne MacMullin. As long as none of them withdraw before the Oct. 17 deadline, they will be acclaimed on Oct. 20, said chief election officer Sandra Brown, as will Greg Martin, the only candidate nominated for the mayor's position.Queen Charlotte administrator Peter Weeber said there are two ways to look at the lack of an election. One interpretation is that residents have become disillusioned and just don't care about their local government any more, but Mr. Weeber said that does not seem to be the situation here.In this case, he said, it seems that the community is satisfied with the way their mayor and council have been handling issues. Mr. Weeber is in his third year of working for the village, and said the feedback he's heard from most residents is that they are happy with the direction the town is taking."I get the sense the community is generally pleased," he said. "We've had some very strong leadership... The next council has some big shoes to fill."This year will be the first time that Queen Charlotte has not had an election for council, although there has never been an election for mayor. Carol Kulesha was acclaimed as mayor in 2005, 2008 and 2011, but announced earlier this year that she would not be putting her name forward this time around. In 2005 and 2008, there were eight candidates for the four council positions. In 2011, there were seven candidates.The new mayor, Mr. Martin, is a longtime councillor, having served since the village was incorporated in 2005. He was elected in 2005, 2008 and 2011, and is now set to become Charlotte's longest-serving politician.