Duane Hicks
Local voters appreciated the chance to hear what those running for mayor and town council had to say last night during a candidates’ forum hosted by the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce at the Memorial Sports Centre auditorium.
With upwards of 200 people in attendance, it’s clear more voters are engaged in this municipal election than any in recent memory.
“I think it helped give us more information on where the candidates stand, where they see the current situation, what their prescription is to fix any issues, and where they want to end up going in the future,” said Tyler Moffitt.
In addition to maintaining the town’s infrastructure, Moffitt said key issues to him are the future of the mill, as well as being prepared for the mining boom and being ready for growth.
“We need to attract more people to come to Fort Frances, and promote ourselves a little bit better than we have over the years, because we have a huge wood basket in our area and you want to capitalize on that,” he reasoned.
“I think it’s good to listen to the people as they’re speaking and promoting themselves,” said Rudy Zeitlhofer, who is a candidate for one of the two Fort Frances seats on the Rainy River District School Board.
“What I’d like to see is way more specifics in what they intend to do,” he added. “I get a little tired of everybody being in favour of the same thing.
“We’re all in favour of moving Fort Frances forward, economic progress, etc.,” Zeitlhofer remarked. “Could we have some specifics?
“But I think as an event for voters, it is really important to see and hear the candidates in person,” he conceded.
Zeitlhofer noted that with so many candidates running for council, it’s unlikely anyone is familiar with all of them, so a forum really does allow voters to at least get first impressions of them.
“I think it’s inevitable an event like this is going to help form who you’re going to vote for,” he said.
“It may not be the number-one thing but it’s going to be a big factor,” he added, admitting that was the case for him.
“It was good. It was informative,” echoed Kalan Kielczewski.
Kielczewski said she likes that so many individuals are running for mayor and council.
“I think that’s a positive and I’m hoping that there are quite a few new faces on council,” she remarked.
“It’s especially nice to see women—I would love to see, as a younger woman, women sitting on council to give their perspective.”
All in all, Kielczewski said the forum did help her make up her mind about some candidates.
“We only get a certain number of votes, so it’s important to know where each and every one of them stand,” she stressed.
“It was good to hear certain things from certain people,” she added.
“There’s certain things I am looking to hear—some of them delivered, some did not.”
On the downside, Kielczewski said that in addition to a better sound system, she would have liked to have seen a debate transpire between the candidates.
“Because there are some issues that we, as the public, want addressed,” she argued, notably “the rhyme or reason in regards to the Huffman development.”
Wanda Botsford agreed last night’s forum was worthwhile.
“I believe that democracy is a privilege but we have a responsibility to make an informed decision,” she reasoned.
“It is particularly important at this point in time, when our town needs us to be very careful and thorough in choosing an effective team of people to make decisions for us,” she stressed.
Botsford felt the format of the evening, with short presentations by each candidate, was appropriate given the large number of hopefuls vying for office.
“The evening was the right length and it stayed fairly positive,” she noted. “I was impressed with the skill sets, knowledge, and the commitment of many of our candidates.
“We are very fortunate to have so many people coming forward to devote their time and talents for the benefit of our townspeople and our district,” she added.
“The jobs they are applying for, as mayor and council, are not easy jobs.”
Botsford noted that by the forum’s end, she had changed her vote on two candidates—and found her opinions of others reinforced.
Marilyn Allan, meanwhile, said she was pleased the Chamber organized the forum.
“I was really appreciated being able to see all of the candidates and to hear what they had to say,” she remarked.
“That was just great.
“I guess we couldn’t have had anything more because of the number of candidates, but it would have been nice having some sort of debate,” Allan added.
“But it just wouldn’t have worked.”
Allan said there were quite a few candidates she didn’t know, and that’s what she appreciated most about the forum—although she wished that some of them hadn’t simply reiterated what they put in the Times last week.
Allan also noted that prior to yesterday evening, she hadn’t made any decisions about how she was going to vote, but the forum did help her up make up her mind about some choices.
Fifteen of the 16 candidates for the six seats on council were present, including incumbents John Albanese, Doug Kitowski, Ken Perry, and Paul Ryan, along with newcomers Allan T. Bedard, Dan Belluz, Wendy Brunetta, June Caul, Eric Fagerdahl, Ed Haglund, Jennifer Horton, Harold Huntley, Joe Kneisz, Scott Krienke-Turvey, and Charleen Mallory.
Candidate Jennifer Greenhalgh is overseas seeing to a family member who is ill, but she sent in a video of herself, which was played at the forum.
All three mayoral candidates—incumbent Roy Avis, Coun. Andrew Hallikas, and former mayor Dan Onichuk—were in attendance.
All the candidates for council were given up to three minutes to speak, whereas those seeking the mayor’s chair were provided with up to five minutes.
Each one introduced themselves and outlined a few topics they felt were important to the future of Fort Frances.
The forum was timed to coincide with electors receiving their mail-in voting kits in the mail this week.
