Submitted by Jim Barber on October 12, 2014
– 2:49 pm
Greater Napanee mayoral
candidates Gord Schermerhorn,
left, and Robert Dorey took centre stage along with
the deputy mayoral candidates at last Wednesday’s all-candidates meeting
at the Strathcona Paper Centre. – Jim Barber
photo
Jim Barber, Greater
Napanee News
Thanks to a bold and
effective new format, folks attending last Wednesday’s
all-candidate’s meeting at the Strathcona Paper
Centre in Napanee had a chance to hear the candidates
vying for the top two elected offices in the municipality express their views
and talk about their platforms and policies in greater depth than in similar
meetings in previous election years.
This, combined with the
new ‘open house’ opportunity to chat one-on-one with all candidates
both before and after the formal part of the evening, allowed for more
free-flowing discussion and a chance for voters to look their mayoral, deputy
mayoral and individual ward candidates in the eye and ask probing questions as
they work their way towards a decision as to whom will receive their vote
during the Oct. 20 to Oct. 27 voting period.
A previous story looked
at the presentations made by the candidates running in Wards 1 through 5, while
this article will present the more formal part of the evening. The two
candidates for mayor, incumbent Gord Schermerhorn and newcomer Robert Dorey,
were joined on the stage by deputy mayor candidates Marg
Isbester, currently a sitting member of council, and
former L&A County Warden Gary Hartin.
They were asked a
series of questions, which ended up being eight in all, by a media panel that
included Greater Napanee News editor Jim Barber. The
questions were gleaned from those presented by members of the public, as well
as ones from the presenting organizations – the BIA, Chamber of Commerce
and local Rotary Club – and from the journalists on the panel. They
ranged from specific topics such as the desire for an aquatics centre, to
general questions about affordable housing.
On the issue of a new
indoor, municipally-owned and operated pool, all four candidates said they were
in favour of the concept of it, and recognized there is a degree of need and
community support for such a facility.
Schermerhorn said that one of the
biggest questions is how the town is going to come up with the estimated $5
million to $6 million to pay for construction.
“There is only
one taxpayer,” he said, adding that he does believe the town deserves a
pool but how would the town not only build it, but also pay for its upkeep? He
said a comparison would be the Henderson Recreation Centre in Amherstview which has a pool that costs $200,000 to run
each year, but which brings in a little over half that in revenue, creating a
deficit that would be borne by the taxpayers.
He also questioned the
commitment of the supporters of the pool initiative for not being as active as
the once were and that “there has to be a long-term commitment by pool
users to make this work.”
Robert Dorey spoke next and challenged Schermerhorn’s
statement that because of the disparity between the cost to run the pool and
the revenue generated it’s not a good idea.
He brought up the fact
that the Town of
That being said, he did
acknowledge that funding the construction of such a facility would be a
formidable challenge but committed himself to
exploring all avenues and taking a positive approach to acquiring funding or
partnerships to get the pool built.
Isbester made the point that
“no-one is under more pressure than I am to bring an aquatics facility to
this town,” because of her family’s extensive involvement with
swimming teams and programs that see them travelling to the new facility in
She said the
development of a local facility has to be a “group effort and cannot be
done on the back of taxpayers,” committing herself to work towards the
goal of a year-round indoor pool if elected as deputy mayor.
Hartin said he believes
having a pool is a good idea but that studies he has read show that Napanee does not have a large enough population base to
make constructing a new indoor pool economically viable. That being said, he
things council should set aside a reserve account and put money away each year
towards the goal of building an aquatics facility.
The second question was
also about a hot button issue for the town: if elected, would the candidates
support a motion from council declaring Napanee as an
unwilling host for any future landfill development or expansion. This is in
reference to the ongoing debate over the proposed Beechwood
Road Environmental Centre out at the current Richmond Landfill site.
Dorey said the case against
any future development at that site seems “clear cut,” based on the
science that has been done at the site. He said if elected he would propose and
support “restating that we are an unwilling host,” but also initiate discussions within the community and around the
council table regarding long-term solutions and alternatives for waste
diversion.
Along similar lines, Isbester said she would also support restating the
municipality’s unwilling host status but along with that ensure that the
motion also includes council support for increasing diversion rates through
programs like an organic waste program.
Hartin concurred with Dorey and Isbester and would
support a motion of that type that if elected, as well as investigating waste
reduction alternatives, including researching how such programs have been
instituted in neighbouring municipalities.
After saying a motion
was passed by council back in 2001, and that he believes rules of procedure of
council preclude the restating of a motion, Schermerhorn
said if one was brought forward re-declaring Greater Napanee
as an unwilling host, he would support it.
The third question was
more general and asked each candidate what they thought was the more pertinent
issue and how they would deal with it.
Isbester said it was
“helping businesses and residents continue to thrive in this
community.”
Hartin spoke passionately
about improving the number of affordable housing units, and said he would try
to work with town staff and landlords in the downtown portion of the
municipality to see if there is the possibility of increasing affordable
housing.
Schermerhorn talked about how
municipalities such as Greater Napanee need to get
together to lobby the provincial government to revamp the current property
assessment system, which he said is become far too burdensome for taxpayers.
“The province has
to give us a different way of taxing people,” he said. “And they
need to work to find another way to keep business in our province and
municipality through a more fair taxation method.”
He said it’s
important for the continued growth of the town to keep tax rates as low as
possible. Schermerhorn said if re-elected he would
continue to urge council to support the local businesses that are already here
and attract new business to the community.
Dorey said all of the issues
of major significance could be lumped under the banner of economic growth.
“Council has to
work on bringing in new employers and support our own young
entrepreneurs,” he said. “And we need to grow smartly. We can use
the Official Plan to make sure the growth is balanced and not just in one area.
We have to make sure commercial and residential areas grow in tandem.”
Dorey said he would be very
active in working with the various area tourism agencies to promote Greater Napanee as a place to visit.
A fourth questions was
about what council can do to keep policing costs in check, even if under the
new costing formula Napanee would be getting a
reduction from the current $4 million it pays.
Hartin said because policing
is a provincial issue, that the municipality must work
with other municipalities to keep policing costs down.
Schermerhorn said he and his fellow
councillors have been frustrated because it’s “hard to get a handle
on policing costs when you’re just handed a contract and told to pay
it.”
“We have made
presentations to the province about cuts to the police contract but also to
change the way policing is done. Could they use civilian staff to do more
paperwork, for example?” he said, ultimately requesting that
municipalities such as Greater Napanee “get the
right to negotiate our own contracts.”
Dorey gave credit for the
work that has already been done by council and staff in lobbying the province
and said he would continue those efforts in co-operation with other
municipalities, if elected. He also said he would like to get feedback from the
frontline officers here in down and also do some brainstorming with various
stakeholders to come up with solutions to the increasing costs of policing.
Isbester admits that policing
will continue to be one of the largest cost problems in the town’s
budget, and she too would continue to lobby as part of a larger group of
municipalities because “there is strength in numbers.”
“The problem has
always been that policing is an expensive business that is also an essential
service,” she said.
On the issue of voting
at large, whereby the community would no longer be divided up into wards but
would instead have all council candidates running to represent the whole
community, with the top five vote getters earning seats around the table, three
of the four candidates – Isbester, Schermerhorn and Hartin –
said they would not be proponents of the new system as they feel the current
ward system is working.
Dorey said he is on the
fence on the issue and that he would at least encourage a discussion of the
issue amongst residents and council if elected.
Where each candidate
sees the importance of heritage as part of the town’s future planning and
growth was the next question with all four praising the work of the current
municipal Heritage Committee and the importance of recognizing and preserving
all aspects of Greater Napanee’s heritage.
Dorey said one of the
reasons people pull off the highway to explore a community is to see it’s
heritage buildings and landscapes and that the municipality needs to leverage
its history to draw in new visitors. He also would like to see the expansion of
parks and green spaces in and around heritage buildings and that it’s
also important to preserve and promote the heritage aspects of all parts of
Greater Napanee from Roblin
down to Adolphustown.
Isbester has sat on the
town’s Heritage Committee for the past term and lauded the work of the
committee in the way it has catalogued heritage buildings and landscapes as
well as provided a program of plaquing designated and
listed buildings.
“We need to
continue to develop incentives, grants, and loans to help property owners
improve and preserve their heritage properties, as we have down downtown with
the Street Smarts program over the years,” she said.
Hartin, in also praising the
work of the committee, summed up the importance of heritage thusly:
“Heritage is something where if you don’t know where you’ve
come from, you are going to have a tough time seeing where you are
going.”
Schermerhorn talked about how
council has been supportive of the initiatives of the Heritage Committee over
the last term and how it’s a “great asset to the community.”
He also said that he hopes that whatever happens with the vacant Gibbard factory that the façade should be left
alone, and that he is adamant that the new Napanee
Area Community Health Centre building downtown fit in with the current
streetscape and tone of the rest of downtown.
On the subject of
affordable social housing for Greater Napanee, Isbester said the municipality may need to look at
development fees or other sorts of policies that would encourage building
owners and developers to incorporate an affordable housing component to any of
their developments.
“And Habitat for
Humanity has made a pitch to use and I think we need to look at it,” she
said.
Hartin repeated his
contention that working with landowners and landlords in the downtown to create
affordable housing units would be something he would advocate for if elected
deputy mayor. He would also look at possibly developing built-up areas in the
smaller villages within the town’s borders.
Schermerhorn, who is also the
current Warden of Lennox & Addington County, said
the real problem is getting contractors and developers to buy into any programs
and incentives offered by the town to build affordable units.
“It’s
definitely a problem. We do have people in our municipality who need
housing,” he said, adding that the province needs to step back in to the
social housing game, saying that when that program was downloaded to the county
governments during the 1980s, it has meant onerous costs to the likes of
Dorey said while there is no
easy solution he would like to see mixed-income developments be part of every
subdivision plan and to use whatever development charges, tools or tax
incentives are within the municipality’s disposal to achieve this.
“Having space for
lower income homes improves the well-being of the whole community,” he
said.
The eighth and final
question of the formal portion of the all-candidates meeting was whether land
that is currently zoned agricultural, but is being used for either a wind
turbine development or solar farm, needs to be rezoned industrial and thus be
taxed at a higher rate.
Hartin believed that should
happen since these enterprises are often placed on what would normally be
high-quality agricultural land, and are an industrial operation. He also feels
there is no need to place wind turbines on the land at all and would be better
out in
Schermerhorn was adamant in his
opposition to the concept of putting wind and solar farms on prime farmland in
theory or in practice, but if they are coming, agreed they need to be taxed as
industrial lands.
Dorey didn’t answer
the question specifically but commented more on the fact that the province has
too much control over where, when and how these developments are built, often
against the wishes of the host municipality and it’s
residents, and that councils should have more control over these sorts of projects.
“The Green Energy
Act had good intentions but it has been pitting neighbour against neighbour,
and that’s not a good thing for a community,” he said. “I
would like the province to look at other energy production methods as well.”
Isbester said she would push to
have them placed within the highest municipal tax rate, especially if they are
going to be imposed on a municipality.
“I really hate to
see farmland scarred with wind turbines and solar farms,” she said.
After closing
statements, the four candidates returned to the floor of the Lafarge Banquet
Hall and continued to talk with voters in amongst the ward candidates for some
time after the formal portion of the evening came to a close.
For more information on
the municipal election, including ensuring you are on the voters’ list
and how to participate in the new paperless balloting system, visit
http://www.greaternapanee.com/en/townhall/2014election.asp