Local election guide: Highlands candidates for mayor and council

In the District of Highlands there will be two choices for mayor with currently sitting Mayor Ken Williams running for his fourth consecutive term. 

For councillors, there are 11 options voters will have to choose between, with a handful of incumbent candidates as well as two candidates who previously served—Mary and Ken Brotherson. 

The Brotherstons are a married couple who in the past have received significant media coverage regarding their sons and a 2008 murder charge. Ken and his sons were acquitted in 2010.

They also were in local media coverage for subsequent legal proceedings involving their younger son and the passing of their oldest, Ken Jr., in 2021.

Who is running for re-election?

Aside from the incumbent mayor seeking another term at the helm of the council table, there are four candidates looking to win consecutive terms. 

The incumbent councillor candidates include:

• Leslie Anderson
• Ann Baird
• Marcie McLean
• Karel Roessingh

Candidates for mayor

Ken Williams, incumbent

Ken Williams is seeking his fourth term as mayor of the District of Highlands. 

He has been the community’s mayor since 2014 and was a Highlands councillor for nine years before that. 

Outside politics, Williams is a multi-instrumentalist and composer who has toured with the Dixon House Band, Rick Springfield, Zipper and the New Vaudeville Band.

Later, he co-owned Legacy Music Ltd. and Kayum Sound Inc., specializing in music for film and television.

To engage with arts in the community, he started the Highlands “Blues Jam” night at the Caleb Pike Coffee House, which grew into a series of concerts as a way to bring the community together through music.

His priorities in this election include protecting the natural areas and character of Highlands, approaching governance with common-sense, strengthening emergency preparedness and pursuing appropriate commercial and light-industrial opportunities on already-remediated lands to help ease taxpayers’ burden. 

Gord Baird

Gord Baird has served Highlands as councillor for 12 years spanning three consecutive terms and is now seeking the mayor’s office. 

Additional regional roles include chair and commissioner of the CRD Regional Water Supply Commission and the Juan de Fuca Water Distribution Commission. 

He is a farmer who has raised children in Highlands alongside his wife. He says that most of his time goes to his farm, but he still has time to volunteer by pressing juice with community members for the Heritage Park Society, supporting the community garden and building the Eagles Lake washroom.

Gord also runs a water design and consulting business where he puts together potable rainwater harvesting designs and consults for other local, regional and provincial governments. 

His priorities include protecting the community’s rural character along with the natural spaces in Highlands, increasing stewardship of water and the region’s climate, committing to reconciliation with First Nations and supporting local groups that help uplift the community. 

See more on Baird online here.

Candidates for Highlands council

Justin Allen

Justin Allen is a first time candidate running for the District of Highlands council. 

He does not have a campaign website detailing his priorities and platform. 

Leslie Anderson, incumbent

Leslie Anderson has served as councillor in Highlands for the last 12 years. 

Aside from working on council, Anderson has served various boards, including the West Shore Parks and Recreation Society and local heritage and environmental committees. 

Anderson does not have a candidate website. 

Ann Baird, incumbent

Ann Baird is the wife of mayoral candidate Gord and has served as a councillor for the District of Highlands for three consecutive terms, from 2014 to the present.

Ann Does not have a candidate website. 

Marie Brotherston

Marie has served on the Highlands council before from 2002 to 2005 and is married to fellow candidate and former councillor Ken Brotherston.

She has lived in Highlands since 1975 and raised three children with Ken while operating a family-owned business that has served the community for 53 years.

Marie and Ken tragically lost one son to an overdose, have another who works every day to live a life in recovery and also have a daughter. 

She says these experiences have strengthened their compassion for families facing addiction and loss.

Her priorities include broadening the tax base to take pressure off of taxpayers, improving wildfire preparedness, making transparent decisions around land-use and environmental matters,prioritizing infrastructure projects that are needed, supporting residential food production, increasing housing through secondary suites and remaining transparent and respectful. 

See more on Marie Brotherston and her husband Ken online here. 

Ken Brotherston

Ken Brotherston also served the Highlands council previously from 2002 to 2008. 

He and Marie have lived and worked in the Highlands for decades and say that climate emergencies, rising costs and changing economic conditions were what prompted them to run again this year. 

The Brotherstons also assert that they are running as individuals, not as a slate. Though they may share values and a vision for the Highlands, Ken says they may take different approaches on council votes. 

His priorities are the same as Marie’s, and include broadening the tax base to take pressure off of taxpayers, improving wildfire preparedness, making transparent decisions around land-use and environmental matters, prioritizing infrastructure projects that are needed, supporting residential food production, increasing housing through secondary suites and remaining transparent and respectful. 

See more on Ken Brotherston and his wife Marie online here. 

Patrick Harriott

Patrick Harriott is a newcomer this election, running for the first time in Highlands. 

Harriott has no candidate website sharing details of his background or priorities. 

Genny Holt

Genny Holt is also a newcomer in this Highlands council election. 

Holt does not have a candidate website. 

Rob Justice

Rob Justice is another first-time candidate in this election. 

He has lived in the Highlands community for 45 years and has taken up beekeeping in his retirement. 

His campaign focus is reportedly to preserve Highlands’ rural lifestyle, diversify the tax base, and improve traffic safety in the community. 

Justice does not have a candidate website. 

Marcie McLean, incumbent

Marcie McLean was first elected to Highlands council in 2008 and has since served 17 years total across 4 terms. 

In addition to her council experience, she has served on various municipal advisory committees in Highlands.

McLean also does not have a candidate website. 

Karel Roessingh, incumbent

Karel Roessingh has served on Highlands council for seven terms, spanning from 1993 to 1996, was mayor from 1999 to 2005 and once again as a councillor from 2008 to the present. 

Roesingh does not have a candidate website detailing his priorities for the community. 

Adrian Selby

Adrian Selby is another newcomer running for Highlands council for the first time this year. 

Selby also does not have a candidate website.