At the 2018 election, John Henderson was acclaimed – he became Mayor with no-one running against him. This time, voters can choose John or local entrepreneur Lucas Cleveland. Six years ago, Lucas visited Cobourg and fell in love with it. He and his wife opened Market and Smor and it has proved successful. It is now run by managers so Lucas can devote all his time to being a mayor. In his early forties, with no political experience, he is a very different candidate to John Henderson who is a retired school principal. Lucas has now published his web site and campaign so we can get more detail of what he offers. The difference between the campaigns of John and Lucas as gleaned from their web… Read complete articleCompeting to be Cobourg’s Mayor

The Deputy Mayor in Cobourg is given the responsibility of managing the Town’s budget so is one of the more important positions.  For this election, there are two candidates: Suzanne Séguin for re-election and Councillor Nicole Beatty.  Based on their published campaigns (on their web sites), they have quite different ideas of what Council should be focused on. Nicole has an emphasis on making the Town a good place to live with thriving arts and culture, recreation and heritage and ensuring that everyone has access to meaningful opportunities, services, and experiences.  Suzanne’s emphasis is on minimizing taxes while providing all the services that people need – as distinct from want.  Both want to hear from voters now but Suzanne also… Read complete articleCandidates for Deputy Mayor

Councillors Adam Bureau and Aaron Burchat have now posted their campaign material on new web sites.   Of the 14 candidates who filed nomination papers, only seven have provided voters with detailed information. Mayor Henderson was first with information, and so far Nicole Beatty, Michael Sprayson, Miriam Mutton and now Adam and Aaron have followed with comprehensive web sites. Perhaps the other candidates are waiting for the all-candidates session organized by the Chamber of Commerce on 29 September – after all, voting doesn’t start until October 14.  Both Adam and Aaron are on the current Council so if you have been following Council news, you will already have some idea of what they think and do. But let me summarize what… Read complete articleAdam and Aaron Campaigning for re-election

Candidates who have filed to run for Council include Michael Sprayson – who is new to Council – and Miriam Mutton who was previously elected. Both hit the ground running and have already published their campaigns using web sites and both have strong messages. Both give details about themselves as people and details of their platform and both make a point of saying that they want citizen input – they want to listen. You may want to vote for both of them (you will be voting for five) but let me describe how they come across based on what they say on their web site. That’s looking past the facts of what they say and instead reporting on my impression… Read complete articleOne New and One Not So New Candidate

Nominations to run in the October Municipal election have been accepted since May 2, 2022 – they close August 19 so there’s plenty of time yet.  So far John Henderson has filed to run as Mayor, Suzanne Séguin is wanting to be Deputy Mayor again and Adam Bureau has filed to run for a Councillor position.  The last 4 years have been turbulent with the pandemic but also with major Capital Projects and a new-found interest in County responsibilities: affordable housing and homelessness.  Culture and Downtown vitalization seem to be on the back-burner and Tourism will no doubt take a hit with the new Parking fees. Big expenditures are planned to fix the Harbour and maybe enhance the East Pier. … Read complete articlePreliminary Review of Municipal Election

At a small Press Conference outside Victoria Hall today, John Henderson announced that he will run for re-election as Cobourg’s Mayor.  Adam Bureau was there and he said that he too has submitted his papers for re-election as Councillor although he has not yet started his campaign.  John handed out campaign material (see below) and has assembled a campaign team including Don Morrison and Roger Tessier.  John has lived in Cobourg for 36 years and has been on Council for the last 12 and in successive terms moved from Councillor, to Deputy Mayor to Mayor.   His campaign handout includes a list of “Areas of Focus” and his Professional Qualifications with a short section on his Personal Life.  He has provided… Read complete articleJohn Henderson Announces re-election Campaign

At the Committee of the Whole meeting on January 7, Town Clerk Brent Larmer will present a report on the recent Municipal election including statistics and possible changes for the next election in 2022.  At the time, there were a few reports of difficulties and Brent has addressed these in his report.  Improvements suggested include upgrading voter list accuracy, expanding the number of days for voting, removing telephone voting but adding additional Voter Help Centres (in person voting locations) and improved communications.  The turnout was low at 43.6% although it was better than the Provincial average of 37.7%. But overall, Brent declared the 2018 Municipal Election a success since it “demonstrated convenience, efficiency, accessibility and a cost benefit to the… Read complete articleReport on Voting at Municipal Election

Cobourg’s Election results were announced at an event staged in the Concert hall at Victoria Hall. Perhaps 60 people were there – including some staff, the election workers, candidates and citizens.  Results arrived at around 8:45 – all at once except for School Trustee results since tabulation was electronic.  See the table below for the vote numbers.  Cogeco was set up in the hall and were able to announce results as soon as anyone.  Since there were no polls – at least not as far as I know – it’s not realistic to say there were surprises.  However, given that a number of people (mostly women) said they were going to vote for all the women, it was surprising that… Read complete articleMunicipal Election Results