Skip to content

Election 2014: Sewage treatment critic enters Saanich mayoral race

District of Saanich: Richard Atwell to challenge Frank Leonard in Nov. 15 election

Richard Atwell wants to be the next mayor of the District of Saanich.

Atwell announced his candidacy with 78 days to go before the Nov. 15 local elections and is the first challenger to Mayor Frank Leonard.

In a statement, Atwell said he plans to push for a governance review of the Capital Regional District if elected.

“Management of waste, compost, sewage and transportation are regional in scope and the public wants to see improved regional cooperation and service delivery with greater public involvement," he said.

Atwell is best known publicly for his work as director of the Sewage Treatment Action Group and The Rite Plan, and has been a staunch opponent of the CRD's $788-million sewage treatment project. He is a common sight at most CRD meetings, where he records all discussion, and is an advocate for a distributed sewage treatment model across the core municipalities.

Atwell previously worked for Motorola and Apple Inc., where he worked as a member of a small group responsible for the user interface of the early iPod music players. He also owns two patents related to portable music devices.

He attended Margaret Jenkins Elementary and graduated from Oak Bay High. He currently lives in Saanich.

editor@saanichnews.com