So It Begins!

Thankfully, submitting your candidacy paperwork for a municipal election is a relatively painless affair and the City of Hamilton has done an admirable job of streamlining it.

The first thing you need to do is fill out the Nomination Paper - Form 1, which is actually a provincial document provided by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Having filled-out a PDF version of the form, I made my way to City Hall.

Here's where I parked:

The cage

Did you know we had bike cages downtown? (I did but that's only because I'm a representative of Ward 13 on the Hamilton Cycling Committee but more on that later...) It's a great facility. I imagine we could do with something like it in Dundas... but I digress.

Once inside, I was directed to the City Clerk's kiosk, where I was warmly greeted by genuinely kind and helpful gentleman, Christopher Newman. He guided me through the remainder of the process and made sure all my i's were dotted and t's crossed.

Among other ancillary forms, you also need to complete a Declaration of Qualifications that basically says you are you who you say you are and that you are indeed eligible to run for office. Interestingly, I learned that to run, you only need to be 18 years old on the day of the election so, conceivably, a 17 year old could run. Neat!

I was off to the cashier to fork over my $100 my filing fee. If I do well enough in the election, the fee is actually refunded so I'm going to think of it as a deposit.

My "deposit"

With that done, it was off to the bank to open a special campaign bank account. You need to set this up to ensure that all the funds you collect and use over the course your campaign are recorded properly. As of January 2nd, the spending limit for our ward is $20,694.40 per candidate.

They come up with that number using a base amount and adding an supplemental amount for each eligible voter in the Ward. The total amount will be revised closer to the election to reflect a more accurate voter count but it won't change dramatically.

"In kind" donations are meant to be included in this amount (for example, you can't just "give" a car to a candidate) but volunteer hours are not.

Anyhow, that's enough nuts and bolts for now. It's been roughly 8 hours since I've become a candidate and the reaction from my friends has been sort of humbling. I think people feel a real sense of gratitude when someone they know and trust runs for office. To them, I offer my sincere thanks - as we progress through this campaign, their kind words will bolster my resolve!

Here's a parting shot of my new "campaign shoes" on the steps of City Hall. I laughed to myself when Councillor McHattie mentioned his new shoes today too. "Hey, that's my idea!" Ha!

So it begins!