Last_minute

Jeff Green | Oct 05, 2006

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Last minute entries shake up municipal elections by Jeff Green

It turns out that you never really know who’s running until the close of nominations.

Throughout the year Ron Maguire expressed his intention to run for re-election as mayor of North Frontenac, until August 28th, when he announced he had decided not to run again, saying, “The mayor’s job was interesting and challenging and I enjoyed working for the people,” but that he was leaving in order to “keep his options open for the next few years.”

One month later, just as the nomination deadline was approaching on September 29th, Maguire arrived at the North Frontenac Township office and submitted his nomination form.

In a subsequent press release, he wrote, “After another month of soul searching and a late bundle of very warm encouragement from a few community organisations and several key individuals, I decided that four more years as mayor was the best place for me at this time of my life.”

Maguire was acclaimed to the mayor’s post last time (in 2003), but this time he will be in a three-way battle with incumbent Ward 2 Councillors Bud Clayton, who declared early in the summer, and Betty Hunter, who declared in September, while Maguire was temporarily out of the race. The only time Maguire has run in a contested election was in 2000, when he was defeated by then incumbent Mayor Stan Johnston by a vote of 1400 to 1162.

Jack Barr running in Bedford District

Early this summer Jack Barr made it clear he would not be seeking re-election as a councillor in the Storrington District of South Frontenac, and that he intended to retire from municipal politics. So it came as quite a surprise when he decided to run again, this time in Bedford District. Although Jack Barr has run a business in Inverary for years, he has deep roots in Bedford , being born and raised on Bobs Lake .

“I spent the summer at my cottage here on the lake,” he told the News when contacted this week, “and it was mainly the concerns of local residents who felt they weren’t getting the representation they wanted that pushed me into taking a run in Bedford this time around.”

The inclusion of Jack Barr will make for an interesting four-person race for the two Bedford council seats, and perhaps an interesting result. Incumbents David Hahn and Del Stowe are both running for re-election, as is Randy McConnell. Because of the area rating system in South Frontenac, councillors from each district must work together to develop a budget for local services.

Mark Burnham jumps into Deputy Reeve race in Tay Valley Three-term Sherbrooke District councillor Mark Burnham decided in late September that he would contest current Deputy Reeve Susan Freeman’s position instead of remaining as a councillor.

“A lot of people contacted me insisting that I run for Deputy Reeve” Burnham told the News this week. In Tay Valley, the deputy is elected at large, so Burnham and Freeman will be campaigning all the way from Maberly to the very edge of Perth, as will the candidates for reeve: incumbent Keith Kerr, and former reeve Mike Mosher. Along with the reeve, the deputy reeve sits on the powerful Lanark County Council, and it is the prospect of this role that pushed Mark Burnham from a safe council seat to the deputy reeve race.

“I think it’s time to get someone at the county who knows about the Ontario Clean Water Act, who knows the Conservation Authority, and who can push the mining issue as well,” Burnham said. “That’s why I decided to take the risk.” Mark Burnham has sat on the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority Board for several years and is the current chair.

As the result of Burnham’s switch, Sylvia Bumstead and Roxanne Darling have been acclaimed as councillors from Sherbrooke ward.