Hamilton municipal elections to be held tomorrow
For the first time tomorrow, hundreds of residents in Hamilton and St George’s will go to the polls to elect their respective Corporations.Graeme Outerbridge is challenging Mayor Charles Gosling for the top job in the City of Hamilton, while Alfonso Harris is taking on Mayor Kenneth Bascome in the Old Town.It is the first Ordinary Election since electoral reform was passed in 2010, in a move to dismantle a system the Progressive Labour Party said protected a privileged minority.At all other such elections since 1923, residential ratepayers, property owners and business owners were allowed to vote multiple times, depending on the number of properties they possessed; the Municipalities Reform Act creates one vote per registered resident.In the City, former Common Councillor Mr Outerbridge is heading up ‘Team Hamilton’ to try to oust the current administration.He is joined by Youth on the Move President Carlton Simmons, entrepreneur Donal Smith and former United Bermuda Party Chairwoman Gwyneth Rawlins, who are all running for Alderman positions.Lawyer Larry Scott, former PLP MP George Scott, businessman Troy Symonds and Anthony Davis are running for Common Councillor.Mr Gosling is running for reelection, alongside the majority of his present team:Aldermen John Harvey and Dennis Tucker and Common Councillors Walter Cross, Pamela Quarterly and Nicholas Swan.Common Councillor Marshall Minors is running to fill the seat of retiring Alderman Pamela Ferreira. Roseanne Edwards is running for Mr Minors’ seat as Common Councillor.Meanwhile, in St George’s, shop owner Mr Harris is hoping to step up from Common Councillor to replace Mr Bascome.Common Councillors Quinell Francis and Renee Ming are seeking to oust Steven Hollis and Garth Rothwell as Aldermen.There will be no vote for Common Councillors as only four people put themselves forward: existing Common Councillors George Sutherland and Eakin McLaughlin, and newcomers Cheryl Hayward-Chew and Phillip Anderson.Voters in Hamilton must cast their ballots in the Mayor’s Parlour, in City Hall, between 8am and 8pm. The polling place in St George’s is the Town Hall.www.elections.gov.bm