More candidates enter 2010 election race
by Blake Wolfe/The Scugog Standard

With a number of recent declarations, the race is on for more than a few of the seats in Scugog’s upcoming municipal election.

In the past two weeks, several residents have announced their intentions for political office in the township, leaving only one seat - French language trustee for the Durham District School Board - without a candidate.

Scugog resident Carolyn Morton, a former Scugog teacher, filed her nomination papers for the position last week, the second resident to seek the seat in the upcoming Oct. 25 vote.

Another former teacher, Olga Klymenko, filed her nomination papers earlier this year for the role of trustee, which is currently held by DDSB veteran Joyce Kelly. Ms. Kelly announced this past April that she would not seek re-election.

“Through my varied experiences as an educator, I feel that I have developed skills and acquired knowledge which would allow me to be a successful link between the community of Scugog and the Durham District School Board,” said Ms. Morton.

“It is imperative that we ensure that our students receive quality education today, for tomorrow.”

Two Ward 5 candidates - Howard Danson and John Hancock - declared for the seat within days of each other late last month, creating a race for a council seat which previously had seen no candidate interest. Current Ward 5 Councillor Georgia Brock, who was acclaimed in the 2006 municipal election, has yet to announce whether she intends to run again this year.

Both Mr. Danson and Mr. Hancoch are newcomers to municipal politics.

“My background would help council to look at the issues they will be facing over the next four years,” said Mr. Danson, a former provincial government employee, adding that he sees the completion of both the waterfront and Port Perry’s west-end development among those issues, in addition to ongoing maintenance of the township’s infrastructure.

“I’ve got the time, the interest and I want to carry on contributing to the township,” said Mr. Hancock, a former municipal government employee, adding that he sees ongoing development and the issue of sewage capacity as among the important issues in the upcoming council term. “Both the rural and residential areas in the township have great potential.”

Rounding out the recent number of nominees is Tim Hales, another political newcomer and the lone candidate to declare for the Ward 4 seat, currently held by Donovan Smith, who is running for Regional Councillor.

“The township is definitely calling for a change and in municipal politics, if you don’t like what’s happening, you do it yourself,” said Mr. Hales, adding that he believes the current council needs to be more careful with spending, such as putting more funds into expanding water and sewer servicing instead of projects like Port Perry’s waterfront revitalization.