Packed house turns out for Whitchurch-Stouffville Mayoral debate

'In 35 years, I haven’t seen a crowd like that for any level of government'

Yorkregion.com
October 17, 2018
Simon Martin

Don’t ever tell anyone people don’t care about municipal politics.

If you wanted a seat for the Whitchurch-Stouffville Mayor’s debate Oct. 15 you had to show up an hour early. Those who weren’t so punctual filled the aisles, foyer, and church entrance at Eastridge Evangelical Missionary Church trying to catch a glimpse of their future mayor.

“In 35 years, I haven’t seen a crowd like that for any level of government,” former Sun-Tribune editor Jim Mason said.         

They were treated to impassioned speeches about the future direction of the town after a term that all involved would say was less than ideal.

“We need a commitment to bring stability back to the Town Hall,” candidate Keith Acton said. He relayed a story of a business executive choosing to locate a company in Pickering rather than Whitchurch-Stouffville. “He said (it was)because the municipal office is pure dysfunction and it’s an exercise in frustration. A 62-million dollar company we lost because of our dysfunction,” Acton said.

Candidate Iain Lovatt touted his experience as Ward 5 councillor as why he is the best choice Oct. 22. “The role of Mayor shouldn’t be one where you get on job the training,” he said continuing on to say the town simply couldn’t afford a situation where the mayor needs 18 months to learn the job.

For candidate Anand Date Whitchurch-Stouffville needed to get back to “business basics” to get on the right track. “We’re not far away,” he said. 

As for the current mayor Justin Altmann, he said people need to come talk to him and read his pamphlets. “What we see and what we hear in the media that’s one side,” he said. When candidates were asked about a mistake they had made, Altmann offered a vague apology for the last four years. “So again I apologize to my community for what’s happened for what’s gone on. It hasn’t been easy for all of us,” he said.

As for policy matters there was various prescriptions offered to heal some of the town’s most obvious wounds. Take Main Street reconstruction. Date said the town should close the street when it does the project. “Do it as quickly as possible and do it correctly,” he said. 

Altmann said Main Street is a long-term project for the town. “It’s not going to be solved in 30 seconds. It’s a long term thing,” he said. New sewers will allow for higher density buildings on the Main Street, he added.

Acton said the key for the downtown was to preserve the heritage of it. “We need to come up with something unique for our downtown. I’m tired of hearing about Markham. I’m tired of hearing about Unionville. I’m tired of hearing about Port Perry,” he said.

After opening a business on Main Street a couple of years ago, Lovatt said he has had a front-row seat to the challenges of opening a business on Main Street. The town needs to put its plan in place. Lovatt said a building owner needs to know the plan. “He’s not going to invest money in renovating that building until he knows what the plan is from the town.”

When it came to the electoral system, Date, Lovatt and Acton were all in favour of keeping a ward system while adjusting the boundaries to make sure there was more equitable representation across the wards. Altmann said he was in favour of moving to an at-large system and reducing the number of councillors from six to four so council could work for the whole municipality.    

When it came to the town’s brand, candidates offered different recipes to fix the situation.

“I said four years ago Whitchurch-Stouffville was in an identity crisis. When we lost the flea market we lost our identity,” Altmann said. He says he is working with Frank Stronach, who wants to take 1,000 acres that he has and turn that into a post-secondary education facility for organic farming in Whitchurch-Stouffville.

Date said maybe it’s time to look at the tag line country close to the city and update it.

Others  pointed to an internal brand problem. “We have a brand and reputation issue,” Lovatt said. “We need to establish trust with the current workforce and stay out of the newspaper.” Acton pointed to all the good people lost at town hall and the relationships that need repairing. “We got lots of holes to fill their. We need to fill those holes with strong people,” he said.

The biggest laugh of the night was courtesy Altmann, who responded to a question about Cannabis legalization with the quip: “I think after this election we could all use some."

Altmann, Lovatt and Acton all said they would seek some consensus on the matter, while Date said he doesn’t have a problem with dispensaries in town.