Former mayor Sharon Shepherd knows all about mayoral campaigns, and she agreed to offer her observations on the current campaign.
Shepherd spent 15 years on Kelowna City Council including two terms as mayor.
She experienced the thrill of victory in those years and the agony of defeat.
“I’ve actually lost twice,” Shepherd admitted, “because I ran again and didn’t succeed.”
It takes a while for the sting of all of that to fade.
“That was quite humbling for sure,” she said.
During the current campaign, she’s been watching closely and getting a good feel of what people in the community are saying.
“What I’m hearing, and it’s actually quite discouraging,” said Shepherd, “is that people really aren’t happy with any of the mayoralty candidates.”
“Many are saying, well I’m not even going to vote for mayor.”
She said she’s found herself encouraging people to make a choice anyway.
“I think it’s going to be a close race between the two candidates,” said Shepherd.
The two she’s referring to are the incumbent, Colin Basran and Tom Dyas who is running against him for a second time.
She said if Basran is to win, it will be because of familiarity.
“People have said with Colin, they kind of know him. Stick with him because they kind of know.”
Shepherd says if Dyas is to become mayor it’s because voters want change.
“Tom is a strong advocate for the business community,” she said.
Shepherd feels certain the race will be close but believes Dyas is the frontrunner.
“What I’m hearing,” she said, “is that Tom will become the winner.”
Shepherd has watched all of the candidate interviews conducted by KelownaNow during the campaign.
“The two-to-four-minute interviews were very helpful,” she said.
You can find them at KelownaVotes.com.
Election day is Saturday, Oct. 15
