Nominations for the next term of Council have now closed and it looks like John Henderson will be acclaimed Mayor since no-one has filed to run against him. Randy Curtis had filed to run as a Councillor but at the last minute, he changed his nomination so that now he will be running for Deputy Mayor against Suzanne Séguin. There are nine candidates running for the five Council positions. Of the current councillors, only Aaron Burchat and Brian Darling will be running again. This will be the first time for Suzanne and Aaron to be elected since they were both appointed when there were vacancies on the Council. School Board Trustees will also be up for election with four candidates for the two positions on the English Public School Board. A surprise inclusion is long time Trustee Gord Gilchrist who stepped down mid-term because of a scandal (see link below). Gord is now 89 years old.
In this last week, there have been four additions to the slate: Travis Hoover, Nicole Beatty, Karl Vom Dorff and Emily Chorley. There are photos and minimal information for all candidates for Council at the Cobourg Internet Election Information page here.
So far, brief campaign statements have been issued by John Henderson, Suzanne Séguin, Adam Bureau, Brian Darling, Nicole Beatty and Emily Chorley (click their names for a pdf or web site). Other Candidates have not yet provided Campaign Statements but you can expect more detailed information being provided over the long campaign period from now until voting day on October 22.
No recognizable names from the Cobourg Taxpayers Association have filed but they are holding an all-Candidates meeting on 10th of October at 7:00pm in the Best Western.
Now that nominations have closed, they will have to be certified as eligible so the lists below are subject to official confirmation.
Council – Candidates (in the order they filed)
| Position | Name | Phone | |
| Mayor | John Henderson | 289-251-0215 | john.henderson09@hotmail.com |
|
Deputy Mayor |
Suzanne Seguin | 905-372-3984 | sseguin@bell.net |
| Randy Curtis | 905-376-1186 | randyo.curtis@gmail.com | |
|
Councillor |
Adam Bureau | 905-376-8151 | info@electadambureau.ca |
| Johnny Percolides | 289-251-4907 | johnnyrealestate@bell.net | |
| Miriam Mutton | 905-373-0159 | mmutton@cogeco.ca | |
| Aaron Burchat | 905-372-5691 | aburchat1@cogeco.ca | |
| Brian Darling | 905-372-8981 | briandarlingcobourg@gmail.com | |
| Travis Hoover | 905-376-2746 | travis.hoover@cogeco.ca | |
| Nicole Beatty | 289-251-3171 | nicole.e.beatty@gmail.com | |
| Karl Vom Dorff | 289-435-2055 | info@votekarl.ca | |
| Emily Chorley | 647-633-6508 | ElectEmily@hotmail.com |
School Boards – Candidates
* Incumbents
English Public School Board Trustee – Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board (2 to be elected)
| Name | Telephone | |
| Jaine Klassen Jeninga * | 905-396-5665 | bjj.jeninga@sympatico.ca |
| Anthony Caruso * | 289-829-1311 | caruso.anthony@gmail.com |
| Terry Brown | 905-376-0212 | brownterry755@gmail.com |
| James Gordon Gilchrist | 289-252-6148 | gordgilchrist@hotmail.com |
English Separate School Board Trustee – Peterborough, Victoria, Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board (1 to be elected)
| Name | Telephone | |
| David Bernier * | 905-753-8446 | dad4girls@gmail.com |
French Public School Board Trustee – Conseil Scolaire Viamonde (1 to be elected)
| Name | Telephone | |
| Anna-Karyna Ruszkowski | 416-690-2246 | anna-karyna@revonsengrand.ca |
| Sylvie Landry * | 905-837-0663 | votesylvie@gmail.com |
French Separate School Board Trustee – Conseil Scolaire Catholique MonAvenir (1 to be elected)
| Name | Telephone | |
| Roger Brideau * | 905-668-1732 | ouitalk@bellnet.ca |
| Marcellin Kwilu Mondo | 289-923-2781 | marcellin.kwilu@yahoo.ca |
| Andre Linsky | 416-578-9477 | andrelinsk@gmail.com |
Links
- Cobourg Internet Municipal Election page – will be regularly updated – currently includes photos and minimal information.
- Gord Gilchrist steps down
- Town web site Election Page
- Post on Election process – 24 April, 2017
Print Article:
Hi John did I miss one of your blogs relating to Randy Curtis? Above info says that he is a ‘last minute’ candidate for DM. Anyone know anything about the man, what his positions (for, against) are?
Randy has not issued any statements as of yet. They will be on this blog as soon as they are available. He registered early as a Candidate for Councillor but at the last minute switched to Deputy Mayor.
Thanks John. Hopefully he can articulate his thoughts/ideas on our very many hot topics well before the election.
Timwit asserts, “Heritage buildings like Central School have been destroyed under the tenure of Gil Brocanier.”
Gil B asserts, “I wasn’t on Council in 2001 when a developer purchased the former Thomas Gillbard School, but I did represent a group that was trying to purchase it for a Cultural Centre…”
Well, Timwits, now is the time to rebut Gil B’s assertion with facts. For some reason, I don’t think you have any facts that support your grossly erroneous and vacuous accusation pertaining to Central School. .
I hope there will be any more times to hear from the candidates
before October 10! I hope our many civic organisations will sponsor candidates meetings and I hope this blog ( my only source of local news) will advertise these meetings.
At the top right on this page is a link to a page on the Cobourg Internet site that has election info including any All-Candidates meetings. So far, only one has been scheduled.
For this incident alone, Emily Chorley will get my vote:
https://northumberland897.ca/news/2017/8/22/rezoning-proposal-leads-to-heated-exchange
As for Mayor Brocanier who refused to acknowledge an obvious conflict of interest: Goodbye and good riddance.
We should never allow our local politicians and their families to use Cobourg as their personal feeding trough.
Hahaha!
I see the election campaign is heating up.
Local politicians AND THEIR FAMILIES are pigs and Cobourg is a pic sty.
Except for Emily Chorley!
You’re the one who mentioned pigs. And I didn’t liken Cobourg to a pigsty. I said it was analogous to a “feeding trough” when politicians use their power to enrich either themselves or their families. To have a mayor who would not recuse himself but would vote to rezone a property that belongs to his niece is the dictionary definition of corruption. Your defense of such a practice is a disgrace and your attempt to belittle the only person who had the courage to point out Gil Brocanier’s corruption at a council meeting is unspeakable. College Street is no ordinary street. It is perhaps the most beautiful, historic street in Cobourg and it deserves to be let alone so future generations in this town can enjoy it exactly like past generations have. Everywhere in this town you find little streets with one-family homes accommodating ghastly condominiums that have been built under the tenure of Gil Brocanier. Heritage buildings like Central School have been destroyed under the tenure of Gil Brocanier. Too many properties have been rezoned with devastating results under the tenure of Gil Brocanier.. Our infrastructure is rotting out under Gil Brocanier. His mayoralty has been a blight on this town.
Oink!
“Your defense of such a practice is a disgrace and your attempt to belittle the only person who had the courage to point out Gil Brocanier’s corruption at a council meeting is unspeakable.”
Hmm if I was Gil B I would be bringing in my libel lawyer for this one!! Got lots of money Tim?
Gil B is corrupt? If Timwit is making the accusation, then we know it’s way off the mark from truth.
I am ahead of you on this one Ben. Already had a discussion with one.
Tell me Tim, does this stuff come to you in some form of twisted vision or do you just make it up? I wasn’t on Council in 2001 when a developer purchased the former Thomas Gillbard School, but I did represent a group that was trying to purchase it for a Cultural Centre by making 2 presentations to the School Board. However, as usual the School Board preferred the ready cash of a developer. As for our infrastructure it is not rotting but superior to the infrastructure of many municipalities. For development I suggest you read the Provincial Policy Statement, the County OP, the Town of Cobourg OP and the Town of Cobourg Zoning By-law and you will come to an understanding of how development is managed and controlled and it isn’t by my one vote as Mayor.
I’m 20/20 in the vision department and there is no need to invent in this town, you just have to open your eyes. You may not have been on the Council in 2001 when the old Central School building was purchased, but the purchase date is irrelevant. The important dates are the dates when the owners submitted their architectural plans to apply for building permits to destroy the character of the building by adding a floor and later that hideous extension. Were you on the Council then? Let’s face it, there have been a lot of condominiums built on inappropriately small streets since you’ve been mayor and I’m guessing you voted to rezone most of the properties to accommodate them. Obviously, you are not solely to blame because, as you point out, you only had one vote but a single vote is often the decisive vote. As for our infrastructure, it may be superior to the infrastructure of many other municipalities but it’s inferior to many others. It’s relative, isn’t it. I just can’t get over the state of what I consider to be an icon of this town – the pier. It’s in every old illustration of Cobourg it’s even at the top of this blog. Rotting, crumbling, disintegrating – choose whatever word you like but it’s in a very sad state of repair and has been for years but there seems to be plenty of money for consultants, business plans, official plans, cultural plans, and now even thousands for window wraps. There’s money to drench Victoria Hall in light at night, but nothing for traffic lights near Gummow School. Many of our downtown buildings are also in a sorry state of repair even after countless thousands of dollars have been thrown at the owners over the years in… Read more »
Tim, you said it all when you said you are “guessing”. That pretty well sums up the source of your information. That and your refusal to educate yourself on municipal regulations is proof your comments are not worthy of a reply. So continue in your Trumpian style and fill the blog pages with false information. I won’t be reading it.
Well Tim, the only thing obvious is your lack of qualifications to comment on municipal matters. If you had read the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act you would not have exposed yourself with such a ridiculous comment.
Gil B, are you Gil Brocanier, Mayor of Cobourg?
Does it matter; do we know or care who Tim is
I’ll wait to hear from Gil B if he is indeed the current Mayor.
Tim… who cares?
Sure it matters.
If “Tim” is actually one of the men or women running for council, wouldn’t you want to know?
I certainly am the Mayor.
Finally ….a Question and Answer period in the dying days of your time in office. (if it’s real)
Please change your user name to Gil Brocanier then to remove all doubt.
I’m not buying it.
I can confirm that Gil B is in fact Mayor Brocanier
Thank you John….for answering his question.
I see that he is getting involved in responding to public questions…..now that he is not running for re-election .
Better late than never I suppose ….even if it took eight years..
the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act gives us the legal definitions and legalities involved in situations such as this BUT it doesn’t satisfactorily clarify the perceptions of ‘corruption’ in the mind of everyday individuals. Reaction, by the Mayor, to a challenge by such an individual was less about explaining and more about defending. It really is up to those elected to provide everyday clarrification since THEY are seen to be the ‘qualified’ ones to do so. I’ve concluded, after many years of observation, that our Mayor is more likely to attack and merely defend against challenges than bring clarity to important matters those challenges raise. That is not a ‘qualification’ I consider to be helpful or desirable, in an office at the level of Mayor.
Huh?
Manfred – Usually fairly clear and concise in your posts but I have to agree with Albert on this one …
Hi Rob. As Gil continues to contribute his comments, the meaning of my earlier comment should become more obvious. Take note of the consistent tone, inferences and messages they exude.
You are back, welcome
Thanks gerinator
My vote for Deputy Mayor goes to Suzanne Sequin…tons of experience…smart…willing to listen…as opposed to her opponent who has none of these required attributes.
Her name is Seguin, Sequins are those shiny little things on dresses.
Either way, she shines. I will pay more attention to my typing skills in the future Albert.
Instead of slamming the other candidate let’s have a reasoned defence of the slam please
SShhhhhhhhhhh!
We better keep very quiet about our election, so Ford does not cut our Council in half.
Like he did in Toronto yesterday and caused chaos.
His buffoonery will strike us all eventually.
It’s worse than buffoonery!
“It’s a rash, autocratic gesture that shows contempt for local democracy, contempt for the local democratic process, contempt for us.”
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2018/07/27/fords-move-to-slash-toronto-council-without-consultation-an-undemocratic-move.html
Another paper, another view.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-doug-ford-is-right-about-toronto/
I am thrilled that Emily Chorley has entered the race, she has this seniors vote.
Thanks John. I knew you’d be on top of this with a complete list this afternoon. One question: how hard did you have to look to find a photo of John Henderson with that smirk on his face? No offence to Mr. Henderson, I’m sure he’ll be a fine mayor. But this has to be the easiest win in local history. It would have been informative to see/hear him explain more about his positions in public debates and now that chance has been lost.
I believe the photo is the photo taken for the Town as his “official” photo.
I agree that an opponent would have been nice and the salary approaches $100K when everything is considered. Where is Manfred?
Manfred is exactly where he should be — not in the race.
as far as I know, we’ve never met nor sp[oken about any issues that keep the public engaged in the political life of Cobourg. So, while I am a bit puzzled by your comment (particularly the word “should”), I’m not really all that surprised by it, nor by the fact that your dissatisfaction with so many things didn’t spur you to stand for election and an opportunity to make the corrections you’d like to see. However, to each his or her own.
Let’s not forget a teachers pension, plus CPP, plus OAS……WOW! Is there a ‘sunshine list’ for those making over 200 G’s? I know John will do an excellent job.
All of which will hack his Mayor’s salary to pieces when the taxman comes to call
not sure if you are being sincere or just a bit sarcastic, so I’ll respond on a neutral note. Now that I’ve retired from the work that kept me well-versed in all kinds of public opinions, I no longer feel qualified to represent that public at the council table. My platforms when running for both Deputy Mayor and Mayor, were well received and broadly supported, as evidenced by the votes the registered. However, with only two candidates both times, one being the incumbent, it became an either or situation and my ballot support was just a tad less than my oppopnent’s, and that was that. If I felt that the current candidates were lacking in substance or qualifications, my name might have appeared but that is not the case this time. Who knows what we’ll be facing come the 2022 election.
I believe John Henderson was on local radio FM 89.7 recently as was the mayor recounting his memories
No offence to Mr. Henderson? You’ve just called his smile a smirk. How about an apology, Deborah?
I am sure Deb might consider if you apologise to Manfred!
BTW six attempts at the captcha is a bit much
NEWSFLASH:That was a joke! Some people apparently don’t get my sense of humour. Or they don’t have one to call their own….
No problem Deb, Tim was only joking.
an apolopgy from Tim would be quite meaningless, I’d think, but thanks for the thought Ben.