Advance Richmond adds four candidates to its slate

Advance Richmond has added Sheldon Starrett, Jizhou (William) Wang, Wallace Pong and Grace Tsang to its slate for the Oct. 17 municipal election. The group announced the candidates at a Sept. 9 news conference in Richmond.

Starrett confirmed he will no longer run for mayor and will instead seek a city council seat. He announced in May that he would run for mayor with the Richmond chapter of the Conservative Electors Association, then said Sept. 1 that he would run independently. The party said he had been removed as its Conservative candidate for Richmond mayor.

Starrett said joining Advance Richmond would enable candidates to form a stronger team and deliver change at Richmond City Hall. He said his commitment remained to put Richmond first, keep it safe, listen to residents and deliver change.

The four candidates will join council candidates Kevin Lai, Gary Law and Sam Wang, and school trustee candidates Dean Billings, Sophie Woo, Danny Chang, Phyllis Tang, Willy Sinconegue and incumbent trustee Rod Belleza. Steven Qian has withdrawn from the election but said he will fully endorse Advance Richmond. Lai said the slate's campaign focuses are public safety; accountability and transparency at city hall; support for families, seniors and small businesses; and putting education above politics.