Be sure you vote in King Township municipal election 2018

The leadership for the next four years in King Township will be 'critical'

Yorkregion.com
October 17, 2018
Sheila Wang

“Don’t complain if you don’t vote.”

When asked why people should vote, Greg Locke asked why people wouldn't.

“If you don’t vote, you’re really letting about half of the township decide what’s gonna happen with your tax money,” said Locke, former chair of Concerned Citizens of King Township (CCKT), a local citizen group focused on the environment and sustainable living, including preserving and protecting natural features, heritage and habitat.

With Mayor Steve Pellegrini acclaimed, King Township residents will elect six ward councillors, and four school board trustees for the next four years.

Locke, who has lived in Schomberg for 12 years, said the new council will play an important role in providing the much-needed enhanced services around the township.

The services included roadways, garbage collection, community assets, education and public health, he noted.

What makes this election interesting is the diversity among the candidates who are generally divided on what they will do on behalf of King people if elected.

“There is definitely competition for ideas. They are all different in ideas, desires and visions.”

However, Locke wanted to remind voters of a new trend he noticed in this election.

“We’re undergoing a certain change of atmosphere in the tone of politics at the federal and provincial level. I certainly see that bleeding down to the municipal level,” Locke said.

He added it is not supposed to be partisan at the municipal level, but it seemed to be different this time.

“I very much see this for the first time really happening --not overt --but it is certainly very clear where certain specific candidates are closely aligned with provincial parties,” Locke said.

“Wary” of this trend, Locke said he would encourage voters to do research and make educated choices --and more importantly --go out and vote.

A summer survey by Nano Research finds that one-third of Ontarians are not aware of the looming municipal election and most people who don’t vote say they don’t care about politics or don’t know enough.

In King Township, the voter turnout rate in the last municipal election was the lowest in the past 12 years --only 33 per cent of voters going to the polls, significantly lower than the election in 2010 (49.9 per cent) and in 2006 (49.8 per cent).

The low turnout rate might have something to do with the acclamation of Mayor Steve Pellegrini at the previous election, Craig Bruce explained.

Bruce, a longtime resident in King, is the current chair of Concerned Citizens of King Township.

“The main leadership position generates a lot of interests and brings people out,” Bruce said.

In this election, with the mayor acclaimed again, Bruce said voters need to go out and vote as the leadership in the coming four years is going to be “very critical” in King.

One of the top issues is housing.

With the rapid growth, Bruce said there is a need to look at housing options in King where single detached houses seem to be the predominant housing form at the moment.

In the next four years, the township will have to decide on the applications for development of different housing types.

Traffic has been a long-standing issue in King, and some key decisions will be made by the new council on how to address the problems, Bruce added.

“The people we elect will be guiding us through working with York Region as well the provinces as to trying to solve the traffic gridlock problem we have, whether through transit, new roadways and widening roadways,” he said.

Similarly, the newly-elected will also guide the township on issues related to environmental conservation as 70 per cent of the township is on the Oak Ridges Moraine.

“While the municipal council doesn’t make final decisions about the greenbelt plan, or the moraine plan, because it’s provincial, they can have input and support different positions whether to open up the greenbelt or to keep the boundaries firm and even grow the greenbelt,” Bruce said.

However, voters tend to show much more interest in provincial and federal election than their local municipal elections where these critical issues are decided, Locke acknowledged.

“At the municipal level, local council and the township have arguably more impact on your everyday life than any other level of government,” Locke said. “If you don’t participate as voter, you’re allowing other entities to make those decisions for you.”

In the survey, some 30 per cent of those who are unlikely to vote say they don’t follow politics or don’t know enough.

Bruce would like to encourage everyone to visit their website --cckt.ca --to learn more about the candidates.

The citizen group has gone above and beyond to make sure the residents of King Township are provided with information about the elected representatives for the next four years.

It has organized candidate meetings, posted videos and sent out questionnaires asking about the candidates’ priorities.

Please visit cckt.ca for the candidate events it has hosted.