The municipal election is set for Nov. 9. 650 CKOM will have comprehensive coverage leading up to election day, with stories and features about the candidates and the issues.
What you need to know:
What ward do I live in?
Who’s running for mayor, city council and the school boards?
How can I vote? And where are the polling stations?
The mayoral candidates:
Don Atchison
Don Atchison is making a run for mayor again, after serving as mayor of Saskatoon from 2003 to 2016.
That stretch made Atchison Saskatoon’s longest-serving mayor.
Atchison was born in Saskatoon and also served as a city councillor from 1994 to 2003 in Ward 10.
Atchison and his wife Mardele have five children and 13 grandchildren.
When he has spare time, Atchison enjoys playing a round of golf, spending time with his grandchildren and volunteering for organizations to raise money and awareness especially for pets, children and special-needs people of all ages.
Charlie Clark
Charlie Clark won the 2016 race for mayor when he defeated the incumbent Don Atchison by 3,000 votes.
Clark was first elected to city council in 2006 and he represented Ward 6 for 10 years.
Clark was born in Dunedin, New Zealand. His wife Sarah Buhler is from Saskatoon and the two of them decided to settle down in Saskatoon.
Clark and Buhler have three children, 15-year-old Simon, 12-year-old Ben and nine-year-old Rachel.
Clark enjoys playing guitar, canoeing and camping, mountain biking and taking trips as a family to different cities around the world.
Rob Norris
Rob Norris is making his first run for mayor of Saskatoon.
Norris served as a Saskatchewan Party MLA for Saskatoon Greystone from 2007 to 2015.
Norris was born in Edmonton but came to Saskatoon in 1994 for graduate work at the University of Saskatchewan.
He is currently the Senior Government Relations Officer at the Canadian Light Source Synchrotron.
Norris has a 21-year-old daughter and two teenage step-sons.
He enjoys running along the Meewasin Trail each morning and going to U of S Huskies games (when we aren’t in a pandemic), writing and spending time with friends and family.
Zubair Sheikh
This is Zubair Sheikh’s first time running for public office.
He was born in Pakistan and has lived in Saskatoon for nearly 12 years.
He and his wife Ayla have been married for 25 years and have two sons, Daniyal and Shahaan.
Sheikh owns an engineering and consulting business.
He enjoys being part of the multicultural makeup of Saskatoon.
Cary Tarasoff
This is also Cary Tarasoff’s first time running for public office.
He was born in Saskatoon at St. Paul’s Hospital. He left Saskatoon when he was with the Canadian Armed Forces in 1988, but returned with his wife and sons in 1999.
Tarasoff does consulting work in construction and development. He also does work to help non-profit groups when possible.
Tarasoff enjoys working with vintage aircraft rebuilders to help bring history back to life. He says the most substantial work he’s doing now is for various Second World War Mustang fighter plane rebuilds taking place in Davidson.
Tarasoff also enjoys sewing on his industrial sewing machine to make things for his friends.
Mark Zielke
Mark Zielke is making his second run to be on council, this time for the position of mayor.
In 2016 Zielke ran in Ward 2.
He was born in White Rock, B.C. but says he came to Saskatoon looking for new experiences with great people.
Zielke is an entrepreneur and an advocate in the community. He says he owns a couple of businesses and spends a significant amount of his time helping those who are falling through the cracks in the legal system.
Zielke says he enjoys hockey, football and meeting with new friends.