Mayoral candidates

Dear Editor:

On Oct. 7 I attended an all-mayoral-candidates meeting for Centre Wellington. As I faced the candidates who sat on stage, there were three from the previous council on my left and two from the current council on my right. Maybe the split was intentional, I don’t know, but the approaches to questions were often split along those lines.

I was reminded how fractious, divided and confrontational council meetings had been prior to 2022 and I hope there is never a return to that type of governance. I was also reminded that the previous council was responsible for Centre Wellington having to spend around $2 million to buy the Middlebrook well last year.

In 2017, Nestlé had offered to donate the well for some support from Centre Wellington at the provincial level. That $2 million would have come in handy now to repair the residential roads in Fergus.

Many topics were discussed but one stood out for me and was a surprise. The previous council all went after the current council over the lack of action in the Business Park that had been set up during their term. Yes, a booming Business Park providing lots of local jobs would be ideal, but given the current economic climate, I can’t see many companies being prepared to take the risk of starting up or growing their business. If you want to blame anyone you need to look far to the south to our tariff-loving neighbour. 

Many years ago, I worked for two mayors and I was amazed at what the electorate thought council was responsible for. Sure, there may be things you don’t like that the current council has done but you can’t blame them for companies taking a “wait and see” approach.

Whichever candidate you do favour, I hope that every citizen of Centre Wellington will exercise their democratic right and vote – either online or by phone. There are many people in this world who don’t have this right.

Sandra Solomon,
Belwood