A Christmas tree salesman and incoming city councillor in Port Alberni says he wants to bring back drag racing at the local airport.
Preliminary results for Port Alberni’s city council byelection from Saturday night show that 595 votes were cast for Tom Verbrugge while the runner-up, Debra Hamilton, received 551 votes.
A total of five candidates stood for election.
Reached by phone shortly after the preliminary results were released, Verbrugge told the sa国际传媒 that he’s focused on the busy holiday sales season but hopes to be sworn in before the end of the year.
Verbrugge, a long-time forestry worker, previously ran for Port Alberni mayor in 2022, coming behind Port Alberni Mayor Sherie Minions by 166 votes.
He also ran for elected office in the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District in 2023.
Verbrugge said one of his priorities is to bring back drag racing at the Port Alberni airport.
It’s an event that draws in money and crowds for the city, said Verbrugge, who is a drag racer himself.
The loud and colourful motorsport hasn’t been seen at the Alberni Valley Regional Airport since it was expanded in 2015.
Advance polls had 691 people voting Dec. 4 and Dec. 11 and there were a total of 26 mail-in ballots, chief election officer Mark Brown said.
A total of 1,423 ballots were cast, equating to an estimated voter turnout of 9.56 per cent.
On Saturday afternoon, Brown said there was a steady stream of people going in and out of the voting centre located at the Echo Aquatic Centre and Fitness Studio on Wallace Street, though he expected turnout to be lower than the last election in 2022, when about a third of eligible voters in the city cast their votes for a mayor and seven councillors.
A seat on Port Alberni council was left empty following the sudden death of John Douglas, a former paramedic who also served as Port Alberni mayor from 2011 to 2014. He was in his second term as councillor when he suddenly died on July 11.
The city is expected to post official byelection results on Monday.
