Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Tourism, homelessness and how to attract jobs were among the topics up for debate as the three candidates vying to be deputy mayor of Greater Napanee took the stage at the SPC on Thursday.
John McCormack, Eric DePoe and Brian Calver each had their chance to convince voters why they should mark an ‘X’ in their favour during the Oct. 24 municipal election. Greater Napanee’s deputy mayor chair carries the added responsibility of representing the town at Lennox and Addington County council.
Hosted by the Napanee and District Chamber of Commerce and moderated by Rebecca Wilkinson of MyFM, the event saw each candidate given two minutes to answer seven submitted questions.
Prior to that, each candidate had the floor to give an introductory pitch as to why they feel they’re the right choice.
McCormack, who is just wrapping up a term as Ward 1 councillor, promoted his council experience.
“I believe that the position of deputy mayor, representing the municipality not only at the town level but at the county level, is a very important one,” said McCormack. “I’m otherwise fully retired and therefor I can continue to dedicate all my time to fulfill the duties of deputy mayor. To me the position of deputy mayor should not be a trial run for someone that has never been on council. It’s too important of a position.”
McCormack added he’d be able to jump right into the issues if elected, not requiring any training for the council position.
DePoe, who was part of the committee that fought against the expansion of the Richmond Landfill, said that experience would be an asset given one of the biggest issues facing the town today.
“More work needs to be done in the fight against the asphalt plant which threatens our air quality, our ground water,” said DePoe, which drew a round of applause from a good portion of the large crowd that gathered for the debate. “I’m running for deputy mayor because I believe that our council needs dynamic new voices and I want to engage more people into the political process.”
DePoe also added that a youth centre, pool and arts and culture centre were among the familiar wants from citizens when he was canvassing door-to-door.
Calver pointed to his decades of experience as a business owner.
“I have a proven track record of good governance, building relationships and leading organizations forward,” said Calver. “In my 20 years as president of the Napanee District Rod and Gun Club, we have raised over $140,000 for community charities and organizations in the past 12 years. As a local business owner I use budgeting and marketing skills every day to ensure the continued success of my business.”
Calver says he represents a new voice for council.
“This election presents us with a clear choice,” said Calver. “The choice between continuing the way things have been or electing a council that will bring in a new approach with new perspective.”
Candidates were asked their take on the homelessness crisis that is facing the town.
DePoe said the town needs a homelessness shelter.
“I think the town has got to step up on that,” DePoe said of a shelter. “We’ve got to find the money for that.”
McCormack said that options might be limited at the town level, but at county they can push the issue at the provincial level to offer incentives for developers to build affordable housing.
“We need to work with the developers and the town follows the lead from the province in working with the county, if we reduce the fees we’ll be able to entice developers to come up with less expensive housing,” said McCormack.
Calver said the town needs to take the issue to the higher levels of government to find the funding for a shelter.
“We have lots of ideas out there, it all takes money,” said Calver. “I think what we need to do as a new council is we need to go after our provincial and maybe our federal governments and try and get some funding.”
On the topic of how to attract tourism, DePoe said the town needs to be innovative.
“One thing that would fit in with the new strategic plan would be electric car charging stations, downtown,” said DePoe. “It takes half and hour, and hour for a car to charge. During that time people could stroll our downtown, they could maybe buy something at Starlet, they could maybe go into Ellena’s for lunch, maybe they could get a coffee at Coffee Cravings.”
DePoe also pledged to work to revive the town’s farmer’s market, which was halted mid-season this summer with no plans to return.
Calver said more of an effort needs to be made in promoting the town’s attractions.
“I’d like to see a little more advertising for some of best little secrets that we have in our community for the campgrounds, that sort of thing,” said Calver.
McCormack, who is a member of the town’s Community Development Advisory Committee, says attracting additional tourism has been a major focus.
“One of the big ones is our waterfront and we’ve already addressed, in my opinion, we solved a lot of the issue with the launching of the boats at the boat ramp,” said McCormack. “It seems to be attracting boaters as it has in the past. And also we have on order two kayak launchers that people that have mobility problems would also be able to come to the waterfront and launch their kayak.”
Following the question portion, each candidate had the chance to make closing remarks, starting with DePoe.
“I applaud the work that was has been done by the community activists on the campaign to stop the plant, but it’s not over,” said DePoe. “Despite overwhelming public opinion and the council’s decision that the town is an unwilling host, the company has launched an appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal and a proposal for an environmental compliance approval. So council must remain vigilant to ensure that our position is clear and ongoing.”
McCormack reiterated the importance of council experience.
“I have an understanding of how things work,” said McCormack. “When you’re first elected, I said to many people somebody will say to me can you help me with this and you’ll say ‘yeah, sure.’ And then the next day you don’t know what the protocol is, how you get it done. It takes a year or two and all of a sudden you start to get some traction and you’re effective because you’re getting things done and you know how things work.”
Calver said financial prudence would be crucial for the next term.
“The success of the next council will depend on our ability to work together along as a team with good governance and financial fiscal responsibility,” said Calver. “As we’ve heard, some people believe that having four years on council, oh my God, four years on council, that’s what we need. I truly believe that we need transparency and common sense moving forward.”
Acclaimed Greater Napanee mayor-elect Terry Richardson addressed the crowd gathered at the SPC. Photo by Adam Prudhomme.
Prior to the debate Richardson had a chance to make a few opening comments as he prepared to take on the role of mayor.
“The Town of Greater Napanee, along with the rest of world, has lived through a global pandemic of more than two years,” said Richardson. “The aftermath will be with us for years to come. The aftermath I’m speaking about are the social, economical and health related effects in which we as a community will have to resolve. You know what? We will. Napanee is a great community.”
Each of the candidates running in the five wards also had a chance to make a brief introduction.
Profiles on each of the candidates running can be found at the Chamber’s website https://www.napaneechamber.ca/greater-napanee-candidates.