St. Marys Mayor Al Strathdee will be acclaimed for a third term after this October’s election.
Strathdee, 56, was the lone candidate for the job in the Southwestern Ontario town when the deadline for nominations passed Friday. He’s being acclaimed for a second straight time following a successful mayoral campaign in 2014.
“It’s always an honor to be the mayor,” Strathdee said. “To me, it’s a vote of confidence … but I mean, it’s always good to have people in the system. I respect anyone’s decision to stand up and run, so it’s a good feeling, but it’s an odd feeling at the same time.”
A third term was not in Strathdee’s plans when he first decided to pursue the town’s top political post. He said his decision to keep the seat comes from a desire to offer stability after his second term, which turned out to be much more turbulent than anyone could have predicted.
Strathdee was diagnosed with cancer and took a three-month leave of absence from town hall in late 2019. Now that he has a clean bill of health – his latest checkup was this week – “I never take anything for granted,” Strathdee said.
“I was pretty lucky,” he said. “I had lots of support.”
Then there was the pandemic, of course, but Strathdee also pointed to other trends that he’s concerned about, including a general distrust of government that has, at times, extended to officials at the local level over the past two years.
“That’s one of the reasons that I’m sticking around,” Strathdee said. “There are some real challenges for the municipality and public service in general, and I think we have to create a sense of stability and move the town forward as best we can.”
St. Marys has had a particularly challenging year on top of lingering pandemic issues.
A section of the town’s sewer system collapsed in April, revealing pipes that were degrading much faster than anticipated. Three months later, a cyber attack temporarily forced their computer network offline. The budget impacts of those events is expected to change some of the plans the town had on its agenda this upcoming term.
Mental health and homelessness are other issues Strathdee said he’d like four more years to help address. He’s concerned about how many of those types of issues are now being downloaded to municipalities from other levels of government.
“Quite frankly, we’re having trouble keeping up,” Strathdee said. “I think it’s important that we have people that understand social issues and budgeting and have some experience on the way things have operated because it’s not getting any easier. Municipal government, I think, is getting more complex all the time.”
Candidates lists for the upcoming election are technically not official until Monday afternoon. Municipal clerks have until 4 pm that day to make sure everyone’s paperwork is in order but, barring any filing errors, the election picture in the province’s municipalities is now clear.
In St. Marys, 10 candidates will run for six spots on town council. Only one councilor – Coun. Lynn Hainer – has decided not to run for re-election.
Those numbers are consistent with past elections in St. Marys, clerk Jenna McCartney said, though she noted nominations trickled in more slowly this time around.
“I believe that’s echoed with my colleagues in neighboring municipalities,” she said.
Advance voting opens up in St. Marys Oct. 8. A polling station for the general public at the Pyramid Recreation Centre, as well as separate stations for residents in the town’s long-term care homes, open Oct. 24.
In Stratford, meanwhile, voters will have three options when they decide who will get to replace longtime mayor Dan Mathieson: Deputy Mayor Martin Ritsma, Coun. Kathy Vassilakos or city hall outsider Robert Ritz, a local architect seeking office for the first time.
Nearly 30 candidates have filed to run in the contest for Stratford’s 10 city council seats. Five members of the current council are seeking re-election. Councilors Danielle Ingram, Tom Clifford and Graham Bunting are not running.
Stratford clerk Tatiana Dafoe said about 25 candidates run for city council every four years.
“We’re definitely not that” she said. “We’re (also) seeing an increase in candidates for the school board trustee positions. We’re … excited for the upcoming election and quite pleased with the number of candidates who filed in Stratford.”
Voters in Stratford elect candidates online or via telephone. The voting period in the Festival City opens Oct. 14. More information about the voting process, including a voter help center the city will establish at the Rotary Complex, will be available on Stratford’s municipal election homepage in the coming weeks, Dafoe said.