Letter to the Editor
Editor,
Some candidates in the current municipal election are acknowledging the dissatisfaction in rural areas of the Municipality of Meaford, especially in Sydenham, and are calling for improved communications.
To me, that’s like calling our winters a cold spell and offering to talk about it in the spring. Far more than communication will be needed to heal the rifts in our municipality, especially between urban and rural areas. And it’s time that serious municipal candidates get specific about what they’re going to do about it.
It takes more than dissatisfaction to get 700 Sydenham residents out to protest meetings last summer; especially when almost twice that number – over 38 percent of Sydenham voters – have since signed a petition calling for de-amalgamation from Meaford.
There’s more to this than simply a tax revolt. I believe rural residents are deeply frustrated because the true rural nature of our municipality isn’t understood by the current Council nor reflected in municipal priorities.
The truth is, Meaford is mainly a rural municipality (including villages). I have consulted with two people who have studied the municipal tax rolls in detail, and they report only 4,900 of the municipality’s 10,000 ratepayer/voters live in town. Another 5,100 live in either Sydenham (2,850) or St. Vincent (2,240).
I would urge every voter in the Municipality of Meaford to keep this majority-rural nature of our municipality in mind when voting for Council later this month.
For their part, many Sydenham voters seem to be focusing on only voting for municipal candidates who live in Sydenham (and there are some good ones to choose from, as there are in St. Vincent).
I would argue there’s an even more powerful and inclusive way for us to move forward. What if all rural voters across the municipality only voted for Council candidates living (or working) in either St. Vincent or Sydenham? The numbers suggest this would make a decisive difference in this election.
Far from being divisive, I believe this “vote rural” approach would produce a Council better suited to eventually bringing all residents together in common purpose.
Sincerely,
Doug Miller, Annan
