After the publication of this week’s newspaper on Thursday, August 6, there are just two weeks remaining in the nomination period for candidates to register to run in the October 26 municipal election. The nomination period opened 14 weeks ago on May 1, and with the August 21 deadline approaching, time to register is quickly running out.
As of the writing of this column on the morning of Tuesday, August 4, we have just one candidate for mayor, current Deputy Mayor Shirley Keaveney, and one for deputy mayor, current Councillor Rob Uhrig. If there are no challengers to register before August 21, those important council positions will be won by acclamation.
Thus far we have seven candidates registered to compete for the five regular council seats; incumbents Tony Bell, Brandon Forder, and Eric Ennis, along with new faces, candidates Adam Vaughan, Darcy Chapman, Amanda Greenfield, and the most recent candidate to register, Elgin Pecjak.
So not much has changed since my last editorial updating the list of candidates which was published nearly a month ago on July 9.
If the election were held today, the sole mayoral candidate would be acclaimed, as would the sole candidate for deputy mayor, and five of the seven council candidates would win a seat at the council table.
Some municipal election years we see a surge of candidates register early on, while other years, like this one, candidates have trickled in, and with just two weeks remaining in the nomination period, many of us are wondering if we will have much of a race at all.
I, like many, am hoping for an influx of new candidates in the final two weeks of the nomination period.
A couple of weeks ago I was speaking to someone that has long been involved in community events, and who has attended the council chamber from time to time to share their thoughts on issues during the public participation portion of the council agenda. I suggested to them that they might want to consider running for council. My suggestion was met with a chuckle, and a comment. “Oh, I don’t need that kind of headache,” they said, chuckling again.
I suspect that there are many in our community who would make fine candidates for council, who feel that taking on the job of a municipal councillor means taking on a world of frustrations for which they simply do not have the time or energy, and I can certainly understand that view. The job of councillor, however, in spite of the frustrations that might come with it, is an important job in which you can help shape the future of this municipality.
Most members of council that I have spoken to, both past and present, have found their experience on council to be rewarding overall. Yes, a term on council often means four years of fielding phone call and email messages, often from angry residents, and it means attending many meetings, from council meetings to committee and board meetings, as well as various public meetings. And for each of those meetings there is an agenda to sift through, often hundreds of pages with all of the various reports included for the agenda items. It is a significant commitment of time and energy, and the pay, well, the pay isn’t very much.
Those realities aside, serving on council can also be highly rewarding, as municipal councils often solve issues for residents, or they approve funding to help support popular community events, or they approve a zoning amendment allowing someone to build their dream home. While the decisions of council that anger some might grab headlines, many, if not most decisions made by a municipal council are applauded by residents.
While serving a term on council can be rewarding, those considering putting their names forward do need to have a thick skin, as it is no secret that, particularly in this modern era, elected officials can find themselves being raked over the coals, virtually of course, on social media pages, or in angry email messages.
Criticism of a municipal council is natural, and sometimes necessary, but when I see folks taking a harsh, aggressive approach, which often devolves into name calling or baseless accusations, I like to remind people that members of a local municipal council are not created in a laboratory, they aren’t a special breed of human parachuted into our community to run our council, they are regular folks, our friends and neighbours, who feel that they can contribute to their community in a positive way by serving on council, and so they make the tough decision to register their candidacy. The vast majority of elected councillors, no matter the municipality, are honest, community-minded people, who enter the world of municipal governance with the very best of intentions.
It is also good to remember, the members of council face the voters and the ballot box every four years, and so they want to make decisions that the majority support, decisions that will earn them more votes in the next election. But in the real world councillors sometimes have to make tough decisions that they consider to be in the best interests of the municipality, while knowing that many residents might not be pleased.
Anyone with some council experience can tell you that the loudest voices are not always the majority, and that can make it more challenging when councillors, particularly new councillors, strive to represent the best interests of the community at large. The best councillors I have seen over my many years in council chambers are the ones that are able to sift through the noise, and who make decisions based on facts, based on data, based on common sense, knowing that even the best of decisions can be subjected to intense criticism.
On July 27, Meaford council held what was to be their final meeting before taking their annual August break, though it was a lengthy meeting. Council was unable to finish the agenda, so their August break will be broken up with an August 10 special meeting in order to complete the July 27 agenda.
By the time council returns to their regular schedule of meetings on Monday, September 14, the candidate nomination period for the October 26 municipal election will have ended three weeks prior on Friday, August 21, so we will know who the candidates will be when we cast our ballots in October.
If you have ever considered putting your name forward for consideration by voters in a municipal election, you still have time. Anyone planning to run for council or school board trustee has until August 21 to register their candidacy.
Election information, including the unofficial list of registered candidates can be found at: https://www.meaford.ca/en/our-government/election.aspx
