Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife ( Jun 02/00) - With just four months to go before the next municipal election, several councillors have confirmed they will be seeking another term.

Nominations for the Oct. 16 election will begin on Aug. 25 and run until Sept. 11 at 3 p.m.

Coun. Blake Lyons, a council member since 1987, confirmed his name will most definitely re-appear on the voting ballot.

Lyons believes candidates for the upcoming election will need to have a strong vision of where the City of Yellowknife is heading in the future.

"What I see is growth for the city and what we have to do is make sure there is land developed for housing and I think we have to look at various types of housing -- what are people's preferences," he said.

Lyons said some individuals prefer upscale homes while others seek more affordable housing. That means development should be approached with a variety of needs in mind.

"That's the challenge we've got, making sure that we can accommodate the desires of people who want to live in Yellowknife," he said.

Coun. Ben McDonald said he thinks he will be running for a councillor's position once again, but he's not 100 per cent sure. He plans on making a final decision later in the summer.

Councillors Robert Slaven and Kevin O'Reilly are taking the same approach.

"Part of me really wants to do it again," said Slaven, but with four young daughters at home Slaven admits it's tempting to take a break from politics and spend more quality time with his family.

"We have lots of thinking to do and when we decide I'm sure we'll let everyone know, but right now I don't know," he adds.

Slaven said he believes city council has been making good progress, but he expects this year's candidates will have to concentrate on a broad vision for the city's future.

"I'm concerned that what it's going to boil down to is do we have candidates in there to micro-manage and penny-pinch and who will miss the big picture and not have a vision for what they want Yellowknife to become, or will we have candidates who do have vision of what they want Yellowknife to become and are willing to work hard to get to that point?" Slaven said.

Better downtown planning, focusing on economic development and building on the reputation as a leader in information technology are other areas that should be considered by council candidates, says Slaven.

Rumours have been circulating that Coun. Bob Brooks has his sights set on running for mayor this fall.

When contacted by Yellowknifer, Brooks was hesitant to reveal his political intentions.

"If I or any other candidate were to say what they were going to run for, that means the election process would start now ... that means we would have to campaign for six months ... I don't want to campaign for six months," Brooks said.

"As people know I'm very interested in politics and there's no doubt that I'll be involved in politics or the election campaign, but I'm not ready to declare any position at this point. It's way too early," he said.

Councillors Cheryl Best and David McCann have their sights set on the campaign trail as well.

"I definitely know for sure that I will stay in municipal politics," Best said.

And what about Dave Lovell?

"If I'm not running, I don't want to be a lame duck because there's an awful lot of stuff to get done and if I am running I don't think it does the community any good to have an election going on until as late as possible ... sometime in mid to late August I'll make a decision and let people know," said Lovell.

Coun. Alan Woytuik could not be reached for comment by deadline.

An advance poll will be held on Oct. 6 and the election will take place on Oct. 16.