Cobourg Election Shakeup

Lucas Cleveland campaigned with a promise to lead instead of manage and to do things differently. Although he has no Council experience, he’s now our new Mayor, narrowly defeating incumbent John Henderson.  And that’s not the only change:  Nicole Beatty beat incumbent Suzanne Séguin for the Deputy Mayor’s position.  In Council, there are two new councillors: Miriam Mutton and Randy Barber – although both have had some previous experience as Councillors (Miriam in Cobourg in both 2006 and 2010 and Randy Barber in Markham). Full vote numbers are below.  I was surprised with three results:  Nicole Beaty beating Suzanne Séguin and both Michael Sprayson and Mark Mills losing. The only certain thing that can be read from the results is… Read complete articleCobourg Election Shakeup

Comparing this Election with 2018

Municipal elections are held every four years and a lot changes in four years so I thought it would be useful to review the issues in the 2018 election.  Did Council follow up?  Are they the same concerns? No surprise, homelessness was an issue but allowing Cannabis stores was hardly mentioned.  I identified 7 other issues and asked Candidates about them.  Some things got resolved or died.  I have not heard any discussion on expansion of boat slips into the West Harbour, buying the Park Theatre or an open Q & A forum at Council meetings (more detail below).  But Tourism was being debated and Holdco’s transparency was criticized.  The candidates were different but of particular interest is what the… Read complete articleComparing this Election with 2018

Debates by Candidates for Mayor and Deputy Mayor

One of the ways voters get to evaluate candidates in any election is when they debate.  Cogeco has interviewed Candidates and that’s good (see Resources below) but better is if candidates battle each other in a debate.  The Chamber of Commerce had a Meet the Candidates event where participants could ask their questions but the result was not recorded and available to the public.  Sustainable Cobourg will have an event on October 14 but it’s focused on one aspect – sustainability.  But the best format is head to head debates with candidates for Mayor and Deputy Mayor and that’s what Cogeco has now provided.  On October 6, Cogeco taped debates and showed them on their Community Channel (see Resources for… Read complete articleDebates by Candidates for Mayor and Deputy Mayor

Interviews with Candidates for Mayor and Deputy Mayor

The regular Council meeting on October 3 will be the last for the current council and the last currently scheduled for this year so there will be little news from meetings for a while.  But of course the upcoming Municipal election is news and, as well as this News Blog, other local media have been providing good coverage.  One often overlooked source of news is Your TV, the Cogeco local channel (700 HD).  Not everyone has Cogeco TV or thinks to look online, but Cogeco does a great job producing news videos and as well as showing them on TV, they are also available on the Internet.  Host Mark Johnston has interviewed candidates for Mayor and Deputy Mayor for Port… Read complete articleInterviews with Candidates for Mayor and Deputy Mayor

Affordable Housing Promises by Candidates for Mayor

One of the issues in this election is what to do about affordable housing.  County Council is responsible for providing affordable housing and Mayors from each municipality are County Councillors so it seems that the affordable housing promises by candidates for Mayor are relevant. Since this is a blog, it’s web based so a review of online statements seems appropriate.  Cobourg’s Candidates for Mayor are incumbent John Henderson and local businessman Lucas Cleveland so I have extracted their positions on this issue from their Web sites and where available, other Social Media.  I emailed both candidates offering to publish their response but I have received no response. Note that affordable housing is a very separate issue from Homelessness although it’s… Read complete articleAffordable Housing Promises by Candidates for Mayor

Johnny Percolides and Brian Darling

These two candidates have very little in common – one difference is that Johnny is not planning a web site although Brian Darling only recently put his online.  Johnny had previously run in 2014 and 2018 but was not elected and Brian has been a councillor since 2014. Johnny is a Real Estate Broker and Brian is a retired Fire Department Captain. Johnny is relying on Facebook and his “Meet and Greet” sessions while Brian’s campaign is more traditional.  There’s not a lot of information available on what Johnny would do as a councillor while Brian is letting us know what his “Areas of Focus” are – see summary below.  Like other candidates, Brian stresses being fiscally responsible and engaging with the… Read complete articleJohnny Percolides and Brian Darling

Candidates Mark Mills and Sara Gardinier

Two lesser known Candidates have added their names to those wanting to be elected as Councillor: Mark Mills and Sara Gardinier.  Mark is Manager Transportation Services, City of Toronto and previously had a similar job at the County.  Sara is a homecare PSW.  As you might expect, Mark has a strong interest in active transportation and Sara wants to change the struggles the elderly and the disabled experience in our town.  Mark’s web site records his meetings with key people in the Town and appreciates their support.  Sara does not have a web site but seems to be relying on Facebook where she is quite active and says “change is needed”, “You can count on her to be 100% transparent.”… Read complete articleCandidates Mark Mills and Sara Gardinier

Ashley Bouman and Randy Barber

Candidates for the upcoming Municipal election include gay activist Ashley Bouman and Community “activist” Randy Barber.  Quite different Candidates but both have worked hard in the community.  This is their first try at getting elected but both are reasonably well known in Cobourg.  Although their platforms have now been published, neither have provided a whole lot of detail although Ashley continues to add information to her web site.  Both have considerable experience leading organizations with Randy’s experience including six years on Markham Council.  If you are looking for “new blood”, these would appear to be prime candidates.  Below are summaries of their campaigns although it’s always best to go to their web sites and facebook pages – see links in… Read complete articleAshley Bouman and Randy Barber

Competing to be Cobourg’s Mayor

At the 2018 election, John Henderson was acclaimed – he became Mayor with no-one running against him. This time, voters can choose John or local entrepreneur Lucas Cleveland. Six years ago, Lucas visited Cobourg and fell in love with it. He and his wife opened Market and Smor and it has proved successful. It is now run by managers so Lucas can devote all his time to being a mayor. In his early forties, with no political experience, he is a very different candidate to John Henderson who is a retired school principal. Lucas has now published his web site and campaign so we can get more detail of what he offers. The difference between the campaigns of John and Lucas as gleaned from their web… Read complete articleCompeting to be Cobourg’s Mayor

Candidates for Deputy Mayor

The Deputy Mayor in Cobourg is given the responsibility of managing the Town’s budget so is one of the more important positions.  For this election, there are two candidates: Suzanne Séguin for re-election and Councillor Nicole Beatty.  Based on their published campaigns (on their web sites), they have quite different ideas of what Council should be focused on. Nicole has an emphasis on making the Town a good place to live with thriving arts and culture, recreation and heritage and ensuring that everyone has access to meaningful opportunities, services, and experiences.  Suzanne’s emphasis is on minimizing taxes while providing all the services that people need – as distinct from want.  Both want to hear from voters now but Suzanne also… Read complete articleCandidates for Deputy Mayor