Amherstburg Candidates Meet Voters at Open House

By Mark Brown.

Candidates running for offices in the town of Amherstburg gave residents a chance to hear their positions on a variety of issues at a meet-the-candidates open house Thursday night, Oct 9.
With three vacant seats on town council and in the mayor’s office, candidates met with residents in an informal setting at the AMA Sportsmen’s Association. Organizer Jim Broderick, of the Amherstburg Committee for Responsible Government, said his organization began meeting in the spring to discuss what was going wrong in the community.

“Our debt is tremendous. Taxes are going up and the number of people hired here have no responsibility for spending money,” said Broderick, a retired hospital administrator. “We built the new sewage treatment plant and we go into debt – $13 million, $25 million, $30 million, and they are just moving on and spending. It was just the blind leading the blind as far as we’re concerned, right from the mayor down.”

Broderick, who says he has never been involved in politics, said that due to the number of candidates running, a public forum was more feasible than a debate and easier than addressing town council at a public meeting.

“We’re trying to show them (the voters) that here are the people who are running for office,” said Broderick. “Ask them what they’re going to do for the next four years.”

Broderick says 26 out of the 29 candidates for mayor, deputy mayor and town council met with the voters, including three of those running for mayor. One of them, current deputy mayor Ron Sutherland, said Amherstburg’s debt issues are at the centre of the campaign.

“We already have plans in place where we’re going to reduce the debt,” said Sutherland, 68. “We will continue to save the town from any further happenings like this. I will be a hands-on mayor, full time.”

One of Sutherland’s opponents, local business owner and horse racing announcer Marty Adler, said the town needs to be run responsibly, as a business.

“It has nothing to do with being political. The town has to be run like a business and not like somebody’s toy where somebody wants to play politics,” says Adler. “At this point, I’m not even worried about the financial mess we’re in, because we’re not in such a big financial mess with the plan that I have,” says Adler.

Once the election is held Oct 27, there will be new faces in the offices of mayor and deputy mayor and at least three new people on town council. One common theme among council candidates was restoring the trust of residents. While Amherstburg’s debt appears to be the chief issue facing the town’s residents, public transport and investment within Amherstburg are also on the minds of voters.

Town councilor Carolyn Davies, running for deputy mayor, said she would like to see residents with special needs use the skills they have.

“We have to do a much better program,” said Davies, a nurse practitioner. “I think that we, as employers, we need to encourage lots of small businesses and even the town to incorporate some of those skills.”

Council candidate Chad Barrette is a first-time political candidate. He said his main concern is seeing Amherstburg bounce back.

“The biggest issue has been the culture at town administration,” said Barrette, 44, vice-principal at Windsor Catholic Central High School. “When you have a lot of staff turnover, that costs the town in terms of experience.”

Regardless of the issues, the open house saw plenty of traffic, and that pleased ACRG’s Broderick.

“This has been 100 per cent a success,” said Broderick. He said the turnout has been “critical for this kind of a meeting and it’s a friendly meeting. Nobody pressures you, there’s no speeches.”

In addition to the four candidates for mayor, there are three people vying for the office of deputy mayor. 22 council candidates have filed to run for five total seats, three of them open due to councilors running for other offices. Voters in Amherstburg can vote in advance on October 18 and 22. For a complete list of candidates or other voter information, visit www.amherstburg.ca/elections2014.