Voting begins Saturday. All-candidates’ survey to help make informed choices

Beginning Saturday, Oct. 15, Prince Edward County residents have two options to cast their municipal and school board election ballot – by internet or paper ballot at a ward-specific locations.

Internet voting is allowed from anywhere, from any device, at any time. Internet voting runs continuously from 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15 until 8 p.m. on election day Monday, Oct. 24. Follow instructions on your voter notification card.

People can choose to vote in-person at their assigned ward-specific voting location on advance voting day (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) or on election day (10 a.m. to 8 p.m.). Follow instructions on your voter notification card.

Learn where Prince Edward County municipal election candidates stand on local issues with this the third and final part of the all-candidates’ survey, sponsored and conducted by Gary Mooney, in collaboration with the Wellington Times and Countylive.ca.

Mooney, who qualified as an actuary a half century ago, has paid close attention to County government since he and his wife moved here in 2004. He has many years of experience in designing unbiased surveys and achieving high participation. This is the fourth municipal election survey he has conducted in the County, this time with 100 per cent participation.

“It is comprehensive, with 14 questions that provide a profile of each candidate, and nine questions that reveal the candidates’ views on important municipal issues and policies,” said Mooney.  “This survey provides enough information to make informed choices before voting in this election.”

Full survey results are available on the survey website at www.tinyurl.com/pecvotes.

Any answer flagged with an asterisk means that the candidate added a comment. Click here to see them, and the candidate profiles, on the survey website. www.tinyurl.com/pecvotes

All-Candidates’ Survey Topics Group C

Topic 7: What is your position on annual property tax increases over the coming council term?

A: Reduce to zero increases
B: Limit to cost of living increases
C: Moderate increases over cost of living, to finance increased road repairs
D: Moderate increase over cost of living to expand social services to children, low-income, disabled and seniors.

Topic 8: A study by KPMG says County roads/infrastructure are decaying faster than taxpayers can afford to repair them. Thinking about PEC’s extensive and costly roads longer term, which approach do you favour?

A: Aggressively reduce costs, including downgrading some paved roads to gravel and maybe closing some.
B: Continue with limited repairs/upgrading and wait for offers of federal/provincial infrastructure grants.
C: Borrow substantial funds to finance repairs/upgrading at an early date.

Topic 9: PEC’s council is larger than most. After much study and debate, council was reduced to 14 members, from 16 in 2018. With the topic likely to be raised again, what would you favour after the 2026 election?

A: The current size of 14 is working well and should be retained.
B: Council should be significantly reduced from 14 to about eight members.

All-Candidates’ SuSurvey Topics Group B  

Topic 4: Tourism is important to the County, but COVID-19 over-tourism in 2020 disrupted residents’ lives. Subsequently, County government established a Tourism Management Plan, increased visitor information, applied controls at Wellington Beach, restricted some parking and create the PEC Destination Marketing Management Organization. What is your view now?

A: Tourism is now reasonably under control.
B: Tourism is still out of control.
C: Tourism should be discouraged.

Topic 5: There’s a lot of developer interest in building sub-divisions in Picton and Wellington. How should County government respond?

A: Encourage all types of homes, but negotiate for some affordable homes in each project.
B: Focus primarily on promoting stand-alone affordable housing projects.
C: No promotion of home building; population growth is not desirable.

Topic 6: Regarding economic development/jobs, what should be the County’s primary focus going forward?

A: Continue to build on current strengths – tourism, agribusiness, creative businesses.
B: Shift emphasis to attracting light industry, manufacturing, offering higher-paying, year-round jobs.

All-Candidates’ Survey Topics Group A

Topic 1: How will you make voting decisions on the most important issues coming before council?

A. Use my best judgment, taking account of input by constituents.
B. Reflect constituents’ views in preference to my own.

Topic 2: Recognizing that both incumbents and newcomers may be biased, how would you honestly rate the performance of council over the past four years? (Any answer flagged with an asterisk means the candidate added a comment. Click here to see them on the survey website.)

A. Council’s performance has been good.
B. Performance has been fair.
C. Performance has been poor.

Topic 3: Prince Edward County is changing. What is your personal view of the changes?

A. The County is changing with the times, and life here is good.
B. The County is becoming gentrified, and losing its rural character and lifestyle.
C. The County is becoming gentrified, and too expensive for some families and seniors.
D. Tourism is causing too many hassles for residents.