Do They Think We Will Vote For Them?

By Meade Helman

I see and hear things in the election here in Bradford that make my eye twitch. We have a total of 27 candidates in this election. Seven of those are currently on council. Of the remaining 20 only 5 attend council regularly since they declared their interest in running. Those attending regularly are Natalie Petra, Ron Orr, Gary Baynes, Peter Ferragine, and Munawar Chudary.

The supporters of these candidates say that they don’t need to go to council because they read the paper and the meeting notes. Except, the local paper only reports some of the goings on; neither paper nor notes tell who voted how; and what any of the discussion around the issue was. Neither paper even reports the vote split: was it 9-0 or was it 4-5? All are part of the story and candidates should know the whole story.

In a Bradford Times profile last week, one candidate said that she didn’t identify issues, she focused on positive change. Sorry, but I want my councillors to focus on issues and fix them. It is great to have ideas for the future, but mistakes of the past need to be fixed before we can move forward.

We have a number of candidates who aren’t canvassing. So in a municipal election how do voters get to know a candidate without meeting him/her? They aren’t on TV or radio as in a provincial or federal election. Why would anyone vote for these people? Without canvassing and All Candidates meetings, do we just go into the booth and roll the dice?

One has to ask “Why are you running?” You obviously don’t care about voters.

So voters, it’s up to you. Do your homework. Take note if the candidate comes to your door. Go to the all-candidates’ meeting. Make a list of matters of concern to you – the town’s debt, accountability, senior housing or loss of farmland. If you don’t have time to go to the meetings, call the candidates (numbers listed at this link). See who gets back to you and whether their answers make sense.

AWARE Simcoe has distributed a questionnaire asking candidates for their positions on some issues of concern to our group. This is because there is never enough time at all-candidates’ meetings to deal with everything that’s important. So far, only two candidates have responded – Peter Ferragine and Natalie Petra. Ask the others why they cannot take the small amount of time that’s required to make themselves accountable.

Please vote on issues, vote for the person that seems to have the best take on what to do.

AWARE Simcoe board member Meade Helman is the social media coordinator of the Elect Rob Keffer Campaign.