Candidates are filing their nomination papers in the upcoming municipal election.
The deadline for nominations is this Friday, Sept. 14, at 4 p.m.
The election will be held on Saturday, Oct. 20 when Summerlanders will choose one mayor, six municipal councillors and two school trustees.
Municipal council and school board elections are serious matters.
Those elected to council and the school board will make some important decisions affecting our day-to-day lives.
Council will deal with issues including bylaws, development applications, road maintenance, park upkeep and improvements and other matters affecting us here in this community.
The school board trustees have to make tough decisions surrounding education. These may include school closures and changes in the classrooms.
These roles are not just limited to the regularly scheduled council or school board meetings.
Council members also sit on numerous boards and committees as a part of their council responsibilities, as are school trustees.
There is also time required to read through lengthy agenda packages, make calls and ask questions so they can better understand the items they need to consider.
While the roles are challenging, they are also necessary.
In order to get the best possible decisions, it is important to have a good pool of candidates from which to choose.
There are many in our community who have good ideas and who would bring remarkable insights to a decision-making table.
We encourage such people to pick up a nomination package and put their names forward.
Once the nominations are in, we encourage the voting public to consider the candidate choices and determine which ones would best represent our community for the next four years.
The choices we make at the election on Oct. 20 and the decisions the new council and school board will make over the next four years will affect us all.