| Oct 28, 2014


Of the seven incumbents running for re-election in Central Frontenac this time around, only two won.

In the mayor's race, Frances Smith made the switch from Oso (ward 3) councilor to mayor in a convincing victory over two-time incumbent Janet Gutowski, by 1996 votes to 1083. That was just the start of the changes.

Tom Dewey won re-election in Kennebec (ward 1) receiving 388 votes, good enough for first place, but just behind him was first-time candidate Cindy Kelsey at 375 votes, 20 votes ahead of Jeff Matson (355), who was went down to defeat after two terms on Council. Logan Murray finished in 4th place with 237 votes.

The tight race in Kennebec was nothing new. Eight years ago Matson won his first term on Council by defeating then incumbent Logan Murray by only four votes.

In Olden, one-term incumbent Norm Guntensperger did not seek re-election, but two term councilor John Purdon finished in fourth place with only 224 votes. Jamie Riddell was elected, leading with 309 votes, and Victor Heese was close behind with 291 to win the second council seat. Cory Thompson finished 3rd with 227 votes and Justin Gray received 112 votes. In this race Riddell, Heese and Thompson were very active in campaigning, going door to door throughout the campaign, and it seems to have paid off at the e-ballot box.

In Oso (ward 3) incumbent Wayne Millar finished third with 323 votes. Bill MacDonald, former mayor and former provincial Liberal party candidate, made a successful return to township politics after eight years with 508 votes. The second council seat went to a complete newcomer to township politics, Sherry Whan, with 388 votes. Dennis Scott and Bob Olmstead rounded out the field with 190 and 182 votes respectively.

Finally, in Hinchinbrooke (ward 4), one seat has been a given throughout the township's history as long as Bill Snyder was alive, and the other has been held by a different person after every election since the founding of the township in 1998.

This time around incumbent Heather Fox went down to defeat, while Phillip Smith, who lost the election in 2010 but was appointed to council when Bill Snyder died at the beginning of the year, topped all candidates with 349 votes. Newcomer Brent Cameron won the second seat with 334 votes. Heather Fox was 14 votes behind with 320, and Sharon Shepherd right behind at 313. Jim Lowery received 204 votes.

When contacted the day after the election, Frances Smith was happy about winning, but the reality of the responsibility that comes with being mayor was kicking in.

“We are going to have to get very busy,” she said, “we have to hire a Chief Administrative Officer [CAO] and a Public Works Manager as soon as possible. I talked to our CAO Larry Donaldson and arranged to meet him tomorrow for a briefing but he is leaving the next day. We are lucky to have Steve Silver coming in as an interim CAO but he won't want to stay very long. And we need a public works manager as soon as possible,” she said.

The other issue on the top of the agenda will be policing costs, but in that case Smith said it is a matter of dealing with it in terms of its impact on the budget.

“There are a lot of people in our township who don't have a lot of money available, who are on fixed incomes, on social assistance. I work in social services; I know there is a lot of poverty out there. A 5% increase in taxes to those people is huge. This has to be part of our thinking when we start budgeting. We need to give staff clear direction before they start putting their department budgets together,” she said.

With a council dominated by first-time councilors, and some major gaps in senior staffing, Smith said that she will be in no hurry to complete the 2016 budget.

“We need to do a lot of work, some training of council, some sessions on our budget process and what the numbers really mean, before we can get to that first budget. I know staff always wants the budget done early, but if there are projects that need to be approved before the budget is complete we can do that by resolution. I will not ask council to rush the budget process right after they take office in a month,” she said.

In response to her defeat, out-going mayor, Janet Gutowski, was upbeat.

“I'll admit that I was a little surprised with the results of the vote for mayor, but the reality is that things change. When I look back and think that I came to this community and immediately served one term as a councilor and two as mayor, I can't say I'm dissatisfied with how everything went over all,” she said.

She said she hopes the township continues its support for two initiatives that she instigated, the Frontenac Heritage Festival and the Economic Development Committee of Council.

The Heritage Festival, which receives administrative and logistical support from the township but only minimal dollars, is in the early preparation stages for next February, and Gutowski said she is committed to staying on as chair of the Heritage Festival Committee, at least for this year.

“I think the economic development committee has made progress, and seeing that some of the newly elected councilors seem to support those kinds of initiatives, I hope that it will survive,” she said. “I'm also excited to see some younger people getting elected to Council. That will be good for the township.”

For a table of results, go to Centralfrontenac.com

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