The Citizen, 2010-10-21, Page 7THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2010. PAGE 7.Londesborough’s CommunityHall played host to the Central
Huron all-candidates meeting on
October 13 and the hot topic was fire
protection.
Fifteen candidates, including five
for West Ward (Goderich Township),
seven for East Ward (Hullett and
Clinton), two for deputy-reeve and
two for reeve filed into the hall to
introduce themselves and answer
questions that ratepayers in Hullett
had. One candidate – Jeff Stoll of
East Ward – was absent.
Running for the Reeve of Central
Huron is incumbent Bert Dykstra
and challenger Jim Ginn.
Ginn is currently a Central Huron
councillor who believes that changes
need to be made to the way that
council addresses its constituents,
stating that there were several
occasions over the past term where
there were communication failures,
which he believes falls to the reeve.
Other concerns for Ginn include
economic development to stop youth
migration, environmental issues and
the use of social media.
Dykstra stated that his primary
goals were to support business and
agriculture, stating that agriculture is
the primary pillar of economic for
the development. He also cited the
Regional Equine and Agricultural
Centre of Huron (REACH) as well
as the upcoming community centre
and fire hall builds as successes that
the township needs to follow up on.
Deputy-reeve candidate Pam
Stanley is a present Central Huron
Councillor and wants to provide astrong, female voice for CentralHuron and for the county. Stanleywants to have the chance to easepost-amalgamation stress.
David Jewitt, the other candidate
for deputy-reeve, said that he has
experience that will help him
represent Central Huron and Huron
County. Both he and his father have
previously served on municipal
councils in the area and he has a
degree in political science. Jewitt
wants to bring the council together
as a team, as, in his opinion, that is
the best way to move forward.
Two Colquhouns are running for
Central Huron’s East ward - father
Dan and son Ken.
Dan works for the provincial
government, managing Clinton’s
Liquor Control Board of Ontario
retail store and has spent two terms
and five years on council. Dan’s
major desire is to reduce spending
and work on eliminating Central
Huron’s debt.
“Ten years ago we were debt free,”
Dan said in his opening remarks.
“Now there is a debt, and that has to
be fixed.”
Son Ken Colquhoun, an insurance
broker, stated that changes have
been made in his community that he
wants to be involved with. Like his
father, he wishes to deal with the
debt, spending and economic actions
of the council.
Incumbent East Ward councillor
Marg Anderson originally got
involved in council through working
for the township. Her platform is one
of promotion of assets and working
with neighbouring municipalities
more closely.Kaushik Patel, a small businessowner in Clinton, is running for EastWard because the community hasgiven to him, so he wants to give
back to the community. Patel wants
to focus on infrastructure spending
to build good development
opportunities and help economic
growth.
Alex Westerhout is a Hullett-area
resident who has worked in
agriculture all his life. Currently a
member of the REACH board of
director,Westerhout wants to change
the way that action is taken, avoiding
last-minute decisions like the
Central Huron fire coverage
contract. He believes that long range
planning must be a bigger part of
council’s decision making process.
Westerhout is running for the East
Ward.
Conrad Kuiper wants to get the
message out about what council is
doing in his bid for East ward. A
teacher at Central Huron Secondary
School, Kuiper wants to focus on
communication through not only
technological means, but by moving
council meetings. Kuiper stated that
it isn’t proper to have council
meetings during the day and that it
prevents working members of the
public from participating in the
decision making process. Being a
teacher, Kuiper also hopes to bring
the views of Huron County’s youth
to council.
Former municipal employee Gary
“Butch” Fleet is running for Central
Huron’s East Ward. Fleet worked for
the municipality for 36 years at the
Clinton Arena, and has coached
minor sports in the area. He wants tofocus on accountability, spendingand debt, specifically at REACH.Questions at the event ranged fromvery pointed to very broad, starting
with Heather Van Dorp.
Van Dorp was quite upset with
Stanley who had, according to Van
Dorp, admonished the group of
residents who had called for fire
reformed by saying “You don’t
know what you’ve done” while
wagging a finger at the group.
Stanley stated the actions of the
group forced the arrangements, and
didn’t give Central Huron the
footing they needed in the
negotiations. Stanley did apologize
for being emotional and “talking
with her hands,” but stated that, as
deputy-reeve, she would make
renegotiating the fire protection
agreement with North Huron a top
priority.
Another issue that was addressed
was spending on capital
expenditures like the REACH, the
new fire hall and the forthcoming
community centre.
Most of the incumbent councillors
stated that they believed the
spending on these centres was
justified, but candidates and
residents questioned the money put
into it. Some of the hopefuls felt that
there would be changes if they were
elected.
Fire coverage has been a tense
issue in Central Huron, and was
brought up several times at the
meeting.Current councillors like the WestWard’s Brian Barnim and Stanleystated that they would continue tohave the closest fire station respond
to fires while hopefuls like Kuiper
stated that he would like to do away
with “separate fiefdoms”.
“Personally I would like to see the
entire county work at a higher
scale,” he said. “Fire protection
should move towards a county-wide
system.”
Holst stated that he agreed with
Kuiper, and that it can be done that
way.
Jason and Crystal Moir and Brodie
have moved from the village and are
now living just a short drive away in
the Benmiller area. Nicholas Stryker
and Dakota Riley are already
comfortable in the Moir house.
Dakota, the daughter of Wayne and
Deb Riley will be remembered by
many in the area.
Hugh Millar continues to be a
patient in the Goderich hospital. He
might enjoy a visit and certainly
Betty would benefit from your
prayers and concern after such a
prolonged stay.
Taun Jeong, son of Chun Ho and
Grace, was critically injured in a car
accident the week of Thanksgiving.
Taun attends university in Ottawa
and is in an Ottawa Hospital
presently. Killed in that same
accident was Taun’s cousin. Keep
that family in your prayers as well.
Condolences of the village are
extended to Terry and Mary Fletcher
whose two-year-old grand-nephew
was killed in a tragic accident on
Wednesday, Oct. 6. The family
resides in Regina. May their faith
help them through this difficult
time.
Londesborough United Church
will hold its 150th anniversary
service on Sunday, Oct. 24 at 11 a.m.
Rev. Mac Carson will be the guest
speaker. A time of fellowship will
follow the service.
I picked a few items off the school
newsletter for October that I thought
folks in the Hullett catchment area
might find interesting.
The annual Terry Fox Run, which
took place at the school in early
Sept., raised $1,218 for cancer
research. The run was successfully
organized by SAC members Juanita
Hemp, Tammy Graf and Kim
Hunking. All pupils participated in
that event except the KB pupils who
were not at school that day.
The recent book fair held at the
school in conjunction with the open
house earned the school $900 in
books for the library. In the spring,
the school has decided to try a new
initiative. Rather than hold another
book fair, they will hold a book
exchange. More details will follow
in the spring but in the meantime
hold on to all those treasured books.
Give someone else the chance to
enjoy them.
EQAO results from the testing
carried out last May have been
disclosed. The primary percentages
of pupils achieving level three or
four in the three Rs were 77, 85 and
69. The junior percentages for those
subjects were 90, 75 and 75. All
scores of Hullett were up from the
previous year with the exception of
junior writing.
Hullett Ward concerns heard at Londesboro meeting
By BRENDA
RADFORD
Call
523-4296
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By Denny ScottThe Citizen