A candidate for Rossland city council has his name on the ballot, but he doesn’t want you to vote for him.
Andrew Zwicker has announced he is dropping out of the municipal election race.
“This past week I and our family received some great personal news, which unfortunately also translates into not so great news for my city council career,” he says in an open letter to the community.
“Three days after the deadline to withdraw from the race I was offered an excellent job opportunity that will see me out of town four to five days a week. I have made my career largely in the ski industry as that is one of my true passions.”
The job is as marketing manager at the Okanagan’s Baldy Mountain Resort, he said. “[A]nd for the good of our family, and to continue following my own career goals, now was the right time to take the job.”
(You can see his letter on Page 4.)
Zwicker says it puts him in an odd position as a candidate.
“While I am withdrawing from the race, unfortunately the official date to withdraw has already passed. What that means is that while I am not in the running, I technically am in the running as my name will be on the ballot,” he says. “[S]o here is the weirdest pitch of the election this year: Please do not vote for me.”
It’s been an off-again, on-again campaign for Zwicker. He first announced he wasn’t going to run this year, then at the last moment submitted his nomination papers. Now it seems, he’s off for good.
The withdrawal after the closing date for changing the ballot puts a cloud over the final makeup of city council. Should Zwicker end up in the top six when the votes are counted anyway, it will put the council into unknown territory.
“We will have to see what that looks like,” says Rossland CAO Bryan Teasdale. He says staff are looking into the issue with Municipal Affairs to explore their options.
On Tuesday, an all-candidates’ meeting will be held at the Miner’s Hall for the 12 remaining candidates running for the six council positions.
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Voters across the province go to the polls on Oct. 20 to elect city councils, school boards and regional government directors.