Candidates for town council will be filing their nomination papers today between 10 a.m. and 12 noon at the Cochrane RancheHouse to officially kick off the municipal election.

Fourteen potential council candidates and three declared mayor candidates have been identified to date but that doesn't prevent others from stepping forward today before 12 noon today. Nor is the list official until 24 hours later. Those filing nomination papers have the option to withdraw in that time.

Register candidates declaring they are running for mayor are Incumbent Ivan Brooker, Jeff Genung and Thomas (Tom) Hardy.

Other registered candidates expected to run for town council are Miles Chester, Vivian Cox, Dan Cunin, Bella Fallis, Marni Fedeyko, Kevin Firkus, Susan Flowers, Scott Gibson-Craig, Kent Liang, incumbent Tara McFadden, incumbent Morgan Nagel, Jason Phillips, Alex Reed and incumbent Ross Watson.

The door will open for candidates to place campaign signs on public property, although there are regulations that must be followed.

Mayoral Candidates Debate Tonight

No sooner will nominations close than the first debate of the election be held between what is anticipated to be a hotly contest mayoral race.

A two-hour session on Monday Sept. 18 will give plenty of opportunity for people to get to know where the candidates stand on key issues, thanks to the Cochrane and District Chamber of Commerce. It's being held upstairs in the SLS Family Sport Centre multipurpose room from 7 to 9 p.m.

Candidates will make opening statements and it will be followed by a series of about nine questions, explains Chuck Collins, of the chamber of commerce, and then the candidates will have an opportunity to debate each. Depending upon time, four or five written questions from the crowd will be asked.

After the debate is over, people are welcome to take time for one-on-one discussions with candidates, he says.

The room can accommodate about 120 and it's open to all interested residents. Coffee and snacks will be available.

For the 2013 municipal election, the chamber also held a mayoral candidates debate in the early goings. A big difference for 2017 is it's being held in the evening, opening the door for more people to attend, and it's longer to allow for more indepth discussion.