A vital part of any political campaign is fundraising. With money a candidate can buy media, hire managers and organizers, and pay for an election day operation. Without it, even the best candidate will have trouble getting elected. For a city of 10,000 people, a successful campaign for council will cost thousands of dollars.

Up here in Nelson, BC, our beautiful little mountain town is 2 weeks away from a historic* city election and we are supporting 2 remarkable women, Paula Kiss and Candace Batycki, because of their stances on the environment and support for small business – two issues we care a lot about.

On Thursday evening, we threw a small party at the studio for Paula and Candace. It was a chance to rally supporters, raise money and have fun. We also wanted to give our fellow citizens a chance to meet these ladies and talk about the issues. School Trustee candidate Curtis Bendig and incumbent councillor Donna MacDonald also stopped in to share a few words of inspiration. Here’s The Seed‘s Evan Aagaard‘s great video of the night:

*the first real social media election for our city.