Some candidates skip Burlington debates
Debates so far impressive, quality of candidates is strong
Burlington’s candidate debates began last Wednesday in Ward 5, with a very respectful dialogue. To view debates on YouTube, search “Engaged Citizens of Burlington.”
There are five Ward 5 candidates, but incumbent Paul Sharman boycotted the debate (more on that later). About 175 attended, the largest audience in memory for a councillor debate (mayors weren’t debating).
All four spoke well, and all are worthy — no distracting fringe candidates. Alphabetically, they are: retired Halton police officer Wendy Moraghan, government relations officer Daniel Roukema, retired elementary principal Mary Alice St. James, and Xin Yi Zhang (”call me XYZ”). He has a thoughtful, technical approach, and has appeared before council as a delegate.
Moraghan knows safety issues but has had little involvement with council, nor has Roukema. St. James was extensively involved in neighbourhood character studies, the Avondale/Bluewater OMB fight and Lakeside Plaza.
Their most frequent comments centred on council’s lack of listening. Responses about taxes varied. All promised to keep them down, but only XYZ cited the need to know the city’s costs.
Moraghan spoke of priorities, citing high LaSalle Park Marina and pier costs. Roukema’s thrust was finding new revenue sources. He mentioned Halifax’s initiative on tourism, but noted heavy intensification would discourage tourists. St. James claimed she would not raise taxes.
Is prior involvement necessary? Probably not, but this election, with two incumbents of seven retiring, familiarity with the system could be advantageous.
About 150 attended Thursday’s Ward 6 debate, which incumbent Blair Lancaster boycotted (more later). Three viable candidates debated. Local business owner Angelo Bentivegna placed second to Lancaster in 2014’s 10-candidate race, and regularly attends committee meetings. Twenty-four-year-old sales executive Kinsey Schurm has helped candidates in provincial and federal races, and portfolio manager Ken White is working on a CPA accounting designation. Each offers different strengths.
Bentivegna is very up on current issues, and has been heavily involved in volunteering and local fundraising. Schurm is young and eager, less involved, but is a non-voting member of the cycling committee. White brings financial acumen.
Bentivegna is concerned about switches of employment lands to residential, and keen on seniors’ issues. Schurm wants weekly garbage pickup. White questioned the cost of the Joseph Brant Museum expansion, saying about $750 per square foot is much too costly.
Monday’s Ward 4 debate between 24-year incumbent Jack Dennison and seniors’ housing advocate and community volunteer Shawna Stolte drew well over 100. Both shone in different areas. Dennison has experience, but Stolte drew applause frequently for her ideas, especially on seniors’ co-housing options.
Both agreed on increasing our tree canopy and on increasing commercial and industrial assessment to reduce the tax burden on homeowners.
Dennison likes the seven-member council. Stolte believes adding two at-large members, for a total of nine, would be better.
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Several incumbent councillors have said they will not take part in debates when they are sponsored by the activist group Engaged Citizens of Burlington (ECoB). They feel that the group is partisan and biased against incumbents, therefore they won’t get a fair shake at debates. Burlington city clerk and chief returning officer Angela Morgan wrote: “I have received numerous complaints and concerns from members of the public about ECoB, specifically they are not impartial and the organization is vocally supporting specific candidates.”
ECoB denies that it is endorsing specific candidates and will not do so going forward. It’s fair to note though that some high-profile ECoB members are actively supporting candidates, even if the group isn’t officially endorsing.
Some incumbent councillors don’t like ECoB. It formed months ago at the grassroots level, but got off to a rocky start when it criticized city planners on its website. The city ordered it to remove any inaccurate references. It did, but since then has had a less-than-great relationship with the city and some councillors.
Citizen groups usually form when people are unhappy, and many Burlington citizens are very unhappy. Heavy debate turnouts attest to that. The loudest criticism has been that councillors don’t listen, and worse, often belittle delegates, many of whom are nervous and overwhelmed by the process anyway.
From what I have seen, all debates have been professionally run, and capably moderated by either Cogeco host Mark Carr or Deb Tymstra. Written questions from the public were solicited, both on the ECoB site and at debates.
Some examples — what the candidates’ priorities are, both for the ward and the city, what tax increases are supportable, traffic, transit and parking questions, how to solicit citizen opinions. These are not loaded questions.
My view is that even if incumbents don’t agree with the debate format, they should take part. Not doing so makes them appear arrogant. It’s worth noting that the boycotting candidates are still using the debates to distribute their literature, they are just not taking part.
The good thing is that we have lots of choice this time, unlike recent elections. Best of all, most are genuinely interested in serving the community. Thank you, all. It’s a big financial and emotional commitment.
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Burlington has its first registered third-party advertiser, Jennifer Beleck. My column deadline prevents further checking, but it was my impression that details of the “sponsor” would be disclosed on the city site.
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Tuesday’s mayoral debate and Wednesday’s Ward 3 debate will be covered later.
Still to come — Ward 2’s debate, Monday, Oct. 1, at Burlington Baptist. Wednesday, Oct. 3, is the correct date for the councillors’ meet-n-greet and mayoral debate at NUVO Network (former Crossroads Centre), 1295 N Service Road. Ward 1 is Thursday, Oct. 4, at E Plains United. The mayoral debate at Central High is Tuesday, Oct. 9. All are 7 p.m. The Chamber’s mayors’ breakfast debate at the Holiday Inn is Wednesday, Oct. 10, and requires advance registration.