ACW Councillors seek to return to office in October

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

All but one member of the current Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh (ACW) Council are seeking re-election thus far in October’s municipal election.

The nomination period opened in May and will close on Friday, Aug. 19 ahead of the Monday, Oct. 24 municipal election.
In the Township of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh, Mayor Glen McNeil is hoping to return to the position for a second term. Deputy-Mayor Roger Watt has also filed to return to his position.

Incumbent Councillors Jennifer Miltenburg, Anita Snobelen, Gloria Fisher and Wayne Forster have all filed to return to their positions, leaving Councillor Bill Vanstone as the only current councillor to not yet file for re-election.

Sylvie C. Barbeau-Chmielewski of Sarnia has put her name forward to be the area’s French-language Separate School Board Trustee for the Conseil Scolaire Catholique Providence.

Central Huron Mayor Jim Ginn made good on his June 20 promise to run again for the municipality’s top spot, filing his paperwork on June 28. Current Deputy-Mayor Dave Jewitt has also entered the mayoral race, filing his paperwork on July 18 in hopes of earning the top spot.

Long-time Central Huron East Ward Councillor Marg Anderson has put her name forward to be the municipality’s next deputy-mayor. Jared Petteplace is also running for deputy-mayor after losing to Jewitt in the race for the deputy-mayor position in 2018.
Incumbent West Ward Councillors Alison Lobb and Michael Russo, as well as East Ward Councillor Danny Colquhoun have all filed paperwork to return to their positions again this fall.

Current East Ward Councillor Alex Westerhout reached out to The Citizen earlier this week to inform readers that he would not be seeking re-election this fall.

In North Huron, current Wingham Ward representative and Deputy-Reeve Trevor Seip has put his name forward in the hopes of unseating Bernie Bailey as the next reeve of the township.

Newcomer Ranko Markeljevic of Belgrave also filed his paperwork to become reeve of the township on July 19.

Incumbent East Wawanosh Councillor Anita van Hittersum has filed. She is seeking the same position. Newcomer Kelly Tiffin of Belgrave has also filed paperwork in hopes of becoming one of the municipality’s two East Wawanosh councillors in the coming term.

Ric McBurney, incumbent Blyth Ward councillor, has also filed paperwork to return to his position.

Ray Berg and Patricia Elaine Smith have both put their names forward to be a school board trustee for the Avon Maitland District School Board for the region serving North Huron.

In Huron East, incumbent Mayor Bernie MacLellan has put his name forward to again fill his position, filing his paperwork on June 10. He is not running unopposed, however, as newcomer Nancy Craig  filed to be Huron East’s next mayor on June 1.
Incumbent Tuckersmith Ward Councillor Ray Chartrand filed on July 11 to return to his position. Incumbent Bob Fisher has also filed his paperwork to return as a Seaforth councillor. He is currently serving as the deputy-mayor, which is chosen from among elected councillors who put their name forward after the election.

In Morris-Turnberry, incumbent Mayor Jamie Heffer put his name forward to return to his position, filing his paperwork on July 5. 

Current Deputy-Mayor Sharen Zinn has filed to be a councillor once again (in Morris-Turnberry, the deputy-mayor is awarded from within council to the councillor who receives the most votes in the municipal election). Incumbent Councillor Kevin Freiburger has also filed in hopes of returning to his position.

In Goderich, incumbent Mayor John Grace is again seeking the position, as is incumbent Deputy-Mayor Myles Murdock. Allison Segeren and Liz Petrie have both put their names forward for councillor positions.

In Howick, Reeve Doug Harding is seeking another term as the township’s top politician. Marvin Grimes is the only other candidate who has filed. He is seeking a councillor position.

Incumbent Mayor Paul Klopp is hoping to return to his position in Bluewater. John Becker has filed in hopes of becoming the deputy-mayor. Two people - Winona Bailey and Shawn LaPorte - have put their names forward in hopes of earning the Zurich Ward councillor position, while Peter Walden has filed paperwork to be the councillor for the Stanley East Ward.

In South Huron, incumbent Mayor George Finch is hoping to return, but he will be challenged by Maureen Cole, the woman he beat for the position in 2018.

Incumbent Deputy-Mayor Jim Dietrich has put his name forward again. He will be challenged by Karen Brown for the position.
Marissa Vaughan, Dianne Faubert, John Pond, (Norris) Wayne Desjardine, Sheila Preszcator and Wendy McLeod-Haggitt have all filed for two Ward 1 (Stephen) councillor positions.

In Ward 2 (Exeter), Aaron Neeb and Barbara Willard have filed for two councillor positions, while Ted Oke has filed in the hopes of winning the one Ward 3 (Usborne) councillor seat.

Keep watching The Citizen for updates as more candidates put their names forward ahead of this fall’s municipal election, which is set for Monday, Oct. 24. The nomination period closes on Friday, Aug. 19.