With the nomination period officially over as of last Friday, all those running for office in the October municipal election have been accounted for.

In the Township of Wellesley, a total of eight candidates have entered the race for three seats on the municipal council, including the township’s senior-most position of mayor.

All five incumbents are seeking another four-year term on township council, however three of the five will have to win an election to keep their seats.

For township mayor, Wellesley village resident Bernia Wheaton is challenging incumbent Mayor Joe Nowak, who is seeking a second term in office. The elected mayor serves a dual role in the Waterloo Region, serving both as a representative of the entire township on Wellesley council and as the township’s representative on regional council.

Just as residents of the township will be picking a mayor in the October election, residents of Wards 2 and 3 will likewise have the opportunity to choose their council representative at the polls.

Four candidates are running for the single seat in Ward 3, which is the area covering the southwestern corner of the township, primarily encompassing the village of Wellesley. Incumbent Peter van der Maas, who is seeking his second term in office, is being challenged by newcomers Joyce Barker, Grant Kingsbury and Philip Morris.

In Ward 2, which covers the northwestern corner of the township and includes the villages of Linwood and Crosshill, two candidates are seeking residents’ vote. Newcomer Mark Whitmer will be running in the election against incumbent Herb Neher.

A long-time resident of the township and business owner, Whitmer says he was keen to get into politics after learning about the difficulties municipalities sometimes face in attracting newcomers to run for office.

Whitmer, a resident of Wellesley village living outside of the Ward, explained that chose to run for Ward 2 instead of his own ward because, at the time, no one had yet come forward to run there. As it happens, both Whitmer and Neher  put in their applications to run on the same day on July 24.

“I do not live in the Ward that I’m running in. And the reason I did that was this ward (Ward 3) had already many people,”  explained Whitmer. “And the main reason I wanted to get in was to help out, well I’ll go to somewhere where they need people.”

He noted that he plans to go door to door to field people’s concerns.

“I’ve talked to some people already. [There are] some traffic concerns they want to look at, some land issues that are already on the table with the old council,” he said. He added that timely bylaw enforcement was another issue raised.

Whitmer will be running against Neher, who will be seeking his fifth and most likely final term as ward councillor.

“Well I ran first of all because I thoroughly enjoy the work as councillor. I think I’ve been very effective and I believe that I’ve served my constituents and the township very well over the past 12 years. So I decided to run again,” said Neher.

“I’ve just enjoyed this kind of work, dealing with people and trying to help them out any way that I can. And of course making sure that they get the best for their dollar,” he added, reflecting on his experience.

“I hope that I have served them well, and I really ask for them to give me one more term to serve them. I feel very humbled and very honored to have served them this long, and I would like to serve them one more term.”

In Wards 1 and 4, which cover the eastern half of the township, incumbent councillors Shelley Wagner and Carl Smit had no challengers and will be acclaimed to their positions.