| Sep 10, 2014


Addington Highlands

Central Frontenac

Lanark Highlands

North Frontenac

Tay Valley

Tay Valley


NORTH FRONTENAC TOWNSHIP

Ron Higgins, who had been registered as a candidate for councilor in Ward 2 of North Frontenac in the upcoming municipal election, is now running for mayor.

Higgins' decision came about as the result of the sudden death of incumbent mayor, Bud Clayton, who was running for re-election. This left Claudio Valentini, the owner of Tomvale airport on Road 506 and a recently retired teacher at Sharbot Lake High School, as the only candidate.

“It is rather awkward to be making the change so soon after Bud's death,” said Higgins last week, “but there is little time before the nomination deadline and once I took the decision I felt I should make the change right away."

Higgins said that he contacted Jackie Clayton, Bud's widow, before making the change.

“It was a difficult phone call for me to make, but she said she had no problem with it,” Higgins said.

Although he was running for council, Higgins said he had been planning to put his name forward for mayor later on, and had talked to Bud Clayton about his long-term political ambitions earlier this summer. He is the founding chair of the North Frontenac Lake Association Alliance, a member of the township's Economic Development Task Force, and a former board member of the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation.

Betty Hunter, who is currently one of the councilors for Ward 3 in North Frontenac, has decided to run again, this time in Ward 2. She had indicated earlier in the summer that she was not going to run for council this time, saying "I've done my time". She has served on council in two of the last three terms (she ran for mayor in 2006 and lost, which put her on the sidelines for four years).

“A number of people have encouraged me to run again, and I consulted with my family and decided to put my name forward again,” she said. Hunter lives in Ward 2 of the township, just metres from the border with Ward 3. She represented Ward 2 between 2003 and 2006, before running and winning in Ward 3 in 2010. She put her name in as a candidate on Friday, September 5, after Ron Higgins had switched his candidacy from Ward 2 councilor to mayor.

With Hunter's inclusion, there are three-way races for the two council seats in both Wards 2 and 3, as well as for mayor.

Ensuring there was a race for council in Ward 2 was one of Hunter's considerations.

“I think people should have choices,” she said.

With these changes there are now three candidates in Ward 2 (Gerry Martin, Vernon Hermer, and Betty Hunter) and three candidates (John Inglis, Denis Bedard and Fred Fowler) in Ward 3 (Palmerston-Canonto)

There are only two candidates (Fred Perry and Wayne Good) for the two Ward 1 (Barrie) positions

In other townships there are a number of competitive wards as well as some acclamations, as the final day for nominations approaches. The deadline is tomorrow, Friday, September 12.


ADDINGTON HIGHLANDS:

In Addington Highlands, the race for Ward 1 (Denbigh) just heated up. There are now four candidates. Joining Eythel Grant and Alice Madigan are Kirby Thompson and incumbent Tony Fritsch. There remain two candidates for reeve, incumbent Henry Hogg, and Gerald Bray. As of early this week Bill Cox and Helen Yanch are the only candidates for the two Ward 2 (Kaladar) positions.


CENTRAL FRONTENAC

In Central Frontenac, there has been a two-way race for mayor between incumbent Janet Gutowski and Councilor Frances Smith for several months.

Ward 1 (Kennebec) is a relatively straightforward three-way race for the two positions between current councilors Tom Dewey and Jeff Matson, and former councilor Logan Murray.

The other three wards feature crowded fields. In Ward 2 (Olden) Justin Gray, Victor Heese, Jamie Riddell, Cory Thompson, and incumbent John Purdon are seeking two positions. In Ward 3 (Oso) incumbent Wayne Millar has been joined in the race by four others: Bob Olmstead, Bill MacDonald, Sherry Whan, and Dennis Scott.

Finally, in Ward 4 (Hinchinbrooke) there are six candidates, including current councillors, Heather Fox and Phillip Smith (who was appointed to Council following the death of Bill Snyder) as well as Brent Cameron, Kirby Bertrim, Sharon Shepherd and Jim Lowery.


SOUTH FRONTENAC

South Frontenac features a three-way race for mayor that includes both sitting Loughborough councilors, Ron Vandewal and Allan McPhail as well as John McEwen. The vacancies in Loughborough seem to have sparked a lot of attention, as there are six candidates seeking the two positions: Mark Schjerning, Fran Willes, Stephen Bach, Ross Sutherland, Dave Plumpton and Terry Thake.

By contrast, the Portland race looks tame, but it will be contested. Incumbents Bill Robinson and John McDougall are being joined in the race by Bradley Barbeau. In Bedford, Pat Barr (who was appointed to Council following the resignation of Mark Tinlin), and Allan Revill are the only candidates for the two positions, and a similar situation is shaping up in Storrington district, where the only candidates are Norm Roberts and Ron Sleeth. Cam Naish, one of the current councilors, had been running, but he has withdrawn from the race.


TAY VALLEY

In Tay Valley, the Sherbrooke ward may see acclamations as well, as Roxanne Darling and Mark Burnham are the only candidates. Keith Kerr is the only candidate for reeve and Brian Campbell the only candidate for deputy reeve.


LANARK HIGHLANDS

Finally, for our readers in Elphin/McDonalds Corners, there are no candidates for Ward 5 of Lanark Highlands, but there is a race for mayor between Peter McLaren and Brian Stewart, and for deputy mayor between Bob Mingie and John Hall.

(Note – the above was written after office hours on Tuesday, September 9, leaving three days for new candidates to come into the race and for candidates to change the position they are seeking. Any resident of a township, whether they are full-time or seasonal, can seek a council position in any ward or they can run for mayor. The only other restriction in addition to residency is Canadian citizenship. Candidates can change the position they are running for up until the nomination deadline at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, September 12 – we will post the final line-up at Frontenacnews.ca on Friday)

A number of all-candidates meetings are being set up by various parties throughout the region, and the Frontenac News will be sponsoring meetings unless others have come forward. A meeting for Loughborough Council candidates is scheduled for Wednesday, September 17 at the Perth Road Sunday school hall in Perth Road Village at 7 pm.

The full schedule of meetings sponsored by the Frontenac News will be announced in next week's edition. Meetings will be taking place during a three-week period, from September 30 to October 17 in all districts with contested races.

Candidate profiles for South Frontenac will be published on September 25; for Central Frontenac on October 2; and for North Frontenac and Addington Highlands on October 9. A dedicated election section at Frontenacnews.ca will be up and running in the coming days.

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