The North Frontenac election is ... odd and unsettling

Jeff Green | Oct 01, 2014

There is no way to get around the heavy hearts that are contesting the municipal election in North Frontenac in 2014.

In his almost four years as mayor, Bud Clayton, an unknown quantity at the start of his term even though he had served on council in the past, managed to endear himself to a number of council members and staff, both in Plevna and in Glenburnie. He had been expected to make a strong showing in his re-election bid.

The fact that he took sick on the job, at a meeting sponsored by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, which he was attending in his role of Frontenac County warden, only underscored how much time and effort he put into the roles of mayor and warden.

Ironically, after all the battles over the years on his own council and at the often bitter county table, he had emerged as a political survivor. Most of his relationships with his fellow politicians were intact; he had accomplished some of his goals; and his year as warden had been free of much of the venom of the first three years of this four-year term of County Council.

While the term of county warden is fleeting, and others are available to take his place, Clayton's passing left a hole in the North Frontenac Council. As the municipal election enters its active phase, it has become clear that the hole will not be easily filled.

No one knows how much the timing of Bud Clayton's death had to do with it, but the fact is that in the 12 days between his passing and the deadline for nominations, not a single member of Council put their name in for his job. Few, if any of them, have the time or energy for it, but it’s hard to believe that at least one of them would not have come forward if things were different, if Bud Clayton were alive but had decided to retire from politics. It might just be that it was too quick, too soon for the people who worked with him week in and week out, to jump into the race to replace him.

What has resulted is a situation wherein the two candidates for mayor, for all their insights and talents, know nothing of the inner workings of the township, and have never lived under the yoke of the province or the constraints of a budget that takes months of meetings to complete each year.

At the same time, every other member of Council is seeking re-election, but two of them are switching wards.

On top of that, there is a mini-slate of candidates in place. For the first time ever in North Frontenac, one of the candidates for mayor, Claudio Valentini, is endorsing two candidates for council, Denis Bedard – ward 1 and Vernon Hermer – ward 2, and they are endorsing him and each other.

The impact of this on the vote remains to be seen, but it may add some spice to the candidate meetings that are upcoming.

The first meeting is set for tonight (October 2) in the Barrie Hall in Cloyne. The second is next Wednesday October 8 in Plevna, and the third on Saturday, October 11 at the Snow Road Hall (presented by the Canonto Lake Association)