The streets are clear of campaign signs, the outgoing city council has sat its final session, and now Peterborough residents are setting their sights on the incoming council.
With the municipal election on October 26, Peterborough residents voted in five incumbent councillors and five new faces, in addition to new mayor-elect Michael Eamon.
kawarthaNOW is following up with the councillors-elect in each of the city’s five wards to understand their positions before council is inaugurated on Thursday, November 19.
According to the city, 40 per cent of eligible voters — 30,044 of 74,603 — cast a ballot, with 23,444 of those voting online, resulting in a 40.27 per cent voter turnout.
In Otonabee Ward, incumbent councillor Lesley Parnell was re-elected with 2,677 votes for her fifth consecutive term on council. Parnell will now serve alongside newcomer Chris Potter, who received 2,318 votes — edging out incumbent councillor Kevin Duguay by just 24 votes.
Monaghan Ward incumbent councillor Matt Crowley easily won his re-election campaign with 5,301 votes — the most votes of any councillor candidate across all five wards. Following incumbent councillor Don Vassiliadis’ choice not to run for re-election, residents voted in first-time councillor AJ Shearer at 2,241 votes.
The only ward to see both incumbents re-elected was Town Ward, with Joy Lachica and Alex Bierk returning to council for their second term with 3,261 and 3,086 votes respectively.
Ashburnham Ward will have completely new representation on council for the first time in 16 years, following incumbent Keith Riel’s decision to run for mayor and the defeat of incumbent Gary Baldwin by newcomers Ashley Bonner and Jason Stabler, with Bonner receiving a record 3,536 votes followed by Stabler’s 3,107 votes — both a significant margin over Baldwin’s 2,570 votes.
As for Northcrest Ward, longtime incumbent councillor Andrew Beamer was re-elected for his fifth term on council with 3,765 votes. Incumbent Dave Haacke’s choice not to run for re-election left his vacant seat the most hotly contested in the city with seven challengers. Northcrest residents ultimately voted in newcomer Charmaine Magumbe with 2,371 votes.
During the election campaign, kawarthaNOW asked all 28 councillor candidates to go on the record in their own words about the most pressing issues facing the city, including economic development, housing intensification, transportation, finances, and councillor representation of ward interests versus city-wide interests.
Now, kawarthaNOW has asked councillor-elects in each ward to explain how they will take action to address the most pressing issues raised by residents during the campaign period by asking them three questions:
- The draft 2027 budget will be presented on November 30. What are your financial priorities at this stage?
- Once council enters session, what will your priorities be and how will you take action on these?
- Throughout the campaign period, many residents identified housing shortages as a primary concern. How will you directly address the homelessness crisis?
Each councillor-elect was also asked two further questions, based on their incumbency status and previous comments made to kawarthaNOW throughout the campaign period.
In a series of five stories, one per ward, kawarthaNOW will be presenting the responses from each councillor-elect in interview format.
