Loughborough District - South Frontenac, Meet Your Candidates

Wilma Kenny | Oct 03, 2018

Perth Road Hall was packed with most of the standing room filled at last Monday night’s Meet the Candidates event, sponsored by the Perth Road/Buck Lake Community Association.

The event ran in three parts, beginning with the School Board candidates: each candidate spoke briefly, (5 minutes?) introducing themselves and the key points of their platform, followed by a 15-minute period for questions from the floor, then a one-minute summary from each.

Incumbent school trustee Suzanne Ruttan, currently Vice Chair of the Limestone District School Board, is being challenged by Roger Curtis, a former SHS teacher, who is part of a group advocating for greater transparency and better communication between the Board and the public.

Three are running for the two Loughborough district Council seats: incumbent Ross Sutherland, retired school principal and long-time township resident Randy Ruttan, and former Council member Fran Willes. (A fourth candidate, Farrah Soaft, appears to have withdrawn from the race.)

Current Mayor Ron Vandewal has two challengers: present Council member Mark Schjerning, and Storrington resident Philip Archambault.

Some of the questions from the floor related to personal concerns, but most were popular themes: improving services for seniors and youth; poor cell service (a universal groan); planning and development issues, particularly those relating to shorelines and subdivisions; communication between citizens and local government; cannabis (should it be sold in the Township and if so, where?); and the eternally popular ROADS. Everyone has road-related opinions and concerns. We have over 800 km of roads in the township, and we all travel on them, so they are a perennially popular topic.

As for what the night’s campaigners said about these issues, I leave it to the interested reader to discover for themself by attending Meet the Candidates night next Wednesday, October 10th at Grace Hall, Sydenham, where at 7pm all the same candidates will be assembled for another go-round.