By Mike Renzella
The Haldimand Press
HALDIMAND—The dust is settling on what turned out to be a divisive municipal election, and Haldimand County has spoken: long-time Mayor Ken Hewitt lost to newcomer Shelley Ann Bentley, long-time Councillor Tony Dalimonte is out in Ward 4, replaced by Natalie Stam, and in Ward 6 Patrick O’Neill takes the seat of Bernie Corbett, who chose not to run again.
Bentley faced stiff competition, with candidate Jake Vandendool coming in just 166 votes short. Hewitt came in third, followed by Dick Passmore and Jenn Gilmour. In total, 14,916 out of an eligible 40,868 ballots were cast, with an overall voter turnout rate of 36.5%. This is up slightly from the 35.57% seen in 2018. Advance votes more than tripled from 2018; 18.27% of votes were cast prior to election day, with 6,074 voters casting online and 1,394 voting in advance in person.
The Press spoke with Bentley and the winning councillors in Wards 2-6 (Ward 1 Councillor Stewart Patterson was acclaimed prior to the election) about the shakeup and how they are planning to approach the next term of Council.
“It is surreal, it is wonderful, very exciting,” said Bentley on her campaign and ultimate win. “It was quite the election cycle.”
Bentley said her first order of business as mayor will be to put forward a motion to take back the Minister’s Zoning Order request related to the proposed Nanticoke development, “hopefully in agreement with Council.”
“That would be my number one concern, to give some control back to the people of Haldimand County and have discussions with our planner and senior staff and with Council. I’m only one vote,” said Bentley. “We have an Official Plan that just passed. Nanticoke isn’t in that Official Plan, and I would like to keep it that way.”
Bentley said that while she opposes Empire’s Nanticoke plans, development is not unwelcome in her eyes, calling the County’s growth strategy, which targets 77,500 residents by 2051, “attainable.” She continued, “I’m not totally against growth, I would like to see some responsible growth in our County … (that) mirrors our county instead of bringing the city into the county.”
Throughout the campaign, other candidates warned of potentially “misleading information” related to Nanticoke, noting that there is only so much the County can do to stop such developments from proceeding. Hewitt referred to the MZO as a tool to help ensure the County had an active voice in the issue.
Bentley responded to the critique, “If you don’t try, you won’t succeed. If you just let the Province tell us what to do without lobbying, without push back, then we’re going to be taken over by developers.”
When asked about some of her other goals beyond Nanticoke, Bentley said she is concerned about the state of many roads in the County, mentioning traffic levels on Highway 6 and the need to widen some rural roads for farm equipment as two issues she will work to improve.
She also plans to build a good working relationship with Haldimand’s MP and MPP, noting, “Being contentious and close-minded is not going to get us anywhere. We need to have an open mind and open conversations.”
Bentley congratulated her competitors, saying she plans to meet for coffee with the four other mayoral candidates to “discuss what they heard in the community.”
She concluded by thanking those who helped with her campaign and voted for her: “I would like to pay special tribute to my late mother, Kay Peacock, and my late sister, Sharon Bentley. This win is for them. They taught me determination.”
Ward 2 Councillor John Metcalfe reacted to Bentley’s win, stating, “In an election, anything can happen. The people were looking for change.”
He added, “I’ve played for different coaches, and I’ve coached hockey and had different players. Everybody brings something different to the table. There’s a big learning curve…. Council has to work together. The players can’t stop playing because of the coach.”
Metcalfe said that he hopes to finish several projects put on the backburner by the pandemic. As for new Council goals, “I think it will be more focused on recreation and people-focused rather than buildings and those types of things.”
He took time to thank his opponent, Paul Beauvais: “There are no losers when it comes to this type of competition. They’ve all got something to bring to the table. Kudos to them.”
In Ward 3, Dan Lawrence is also set to begin his second term as Councillor, stating, “I will look forward to working with the new faces at the table and hopefully we can continue on the same path of making Haldimand County bigger and better.”
As for his term goals, he said, “I definitely want to keep taxes down around 2%, where we’ve kept them the last four years. For Caledonia, I definitely want to see another seat at the table … and I want to see some responsible development.”
Lawrence thanked his supporters for their votes, concluding, “I’m looking forward to another four years and hopefully making our County even better than it already is.”
Fellow Ward 3 candidate Julie Richardson, who came second, said of her first campaign: “I had so many great connections and conversations at people’s doors. Our municipality will face many tough issues over the next four years; I wish Dan and the rest of Council well.”
Ward 4 saw a surprising change, as long-time Councillor Tony Dalimonte was defeated by Natalie Stam with a significant margin.
“I am honoured and so very grateful for the trust the people in Ward 4 have placed in me to represent them,” said Stam. “This was only possible through the grace of God, the tireless help of my wonderful husband, the support of my family, and the encouragement of my friends. I owe a debt of gratitude to many.”
On her goals for the next term, she said, “In talking with people on the campaign trail, they have let me know what I need to do. I have a list of requests and concerns to deal with, so short term, that is where my focus will be. Naturally I will be brought up to speed by staff and council as to the management of a broader scope of issues and projects.”
Stam iterated that she is here to listen and serve: “I will strive to keep that at the centre of all I do moving forward.”
Stam concluded by thanking Dalimonte, “who has led and served this county with faithfulness for so many years. I am appreciative of all the time and effort he dedicated to doing so, and truly wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”
With Hewitt and Dalimonte out, Ward 5 Councillor Rob Shirton now stands as the longest serving member of Council, heading into his fourth term. He noted that Hewitt was part of the reason he ran for Council initially, and that Hewitt was a “great mayor.… I was behind Ken, we work well together.”
“I feel bad for Tony and Ken, but change is inevitable,” continued Shirton. “I will reach out to the new mayor and congratulate her…. Let’s move forward.”
Shirton expressed confusion over how Nanticoke became a “big political football” in the election, stating, “People may not vote on all the facts. There’s a lot of hearsay.”
Nevertheless, he added, “It feels good to win…. It was a really good campaign.” He hopes to start fundraising and laying the groundwork for a new indoor pool in Dunnville during this term.
He concluded, “I think I do a pretty good job at getting back to people and listening to their concerns. You can’t please everybody, but I think the people spoke, and I would like to thank those who supported me.”
Finally, in Ward 6 Patrick O’Neill has been chosen to succeed retiring Councillor Bernie Corbett.
“I have pretty big shoes to fill,” said O’Neill. “I think all the mayors and councillors of the past, and the County staff as well, have done such a great job and built such a great foundation, it just makes my day one so much easier when you get to build off something so solid.”
On his Ward, he added, “I know we have needs here, especially for labour and healthcare, manufacturing, retail – all those industries are hurting. We definitely need to get some more people to come to town and create some positive, balanced growth.”
O’Neill said he wants to work on making Ward 6 more attractive to newcomers, such as through “recreational services, empowering our service groups, as well as looking at honouring our heritage and traditions.”
“If you have a certain issue you are running on and that’s your concern, there’s power in that obviously, but we have to work on day two,” concluded O’Neill on candidate priorities moving forward. “There’s a lot more, in my opinion, pressing things we have to work on. There is already a path laid forward by the previous Council and staff, and from my knowledge, I think the path is looking good.”
Two of the school trustees – English Separate (Mark Watson) and French Public (David Paradis) – were acclaimed ahead of the election. Dorothée Petit-Pas remains the French Separate trustee with only 20 votes. English Public School Trustee saw three candidates vying for two positions, with Brian Doyle maintaining his spot and Lisa Passmore replacing James Richardson, who did not run this year. Corbett came third in this race, stating, “The people have spoken. I have congratulated my opponents. Good luck to them. Thank you for your support.”
