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Written by: Gordon Prentice

Published: 01 October 2022

This morning we are off to the Town's splendid Farmers' Market to meet the voters. 

I have a little band of helpers eight strong whose job is to offer leaflets to those willing to take them and to point people in my direction if they want to talk to me.

To help identification I have my striking red and black lawn sign on my back, secured with string.

I gather my team together and go into a huddle. Just two simple reminders: don't hassle people and keep the vendors happy by staying well clear of their market stalls.

We get a terrific reception.

People raise all sorts of issues with me. One woman who lives close to the rail tracks wants me to stop the train whistles. 

"I wish I could but I am not sure I can. I'm about a mile away from the rail tracks and I hear the trumpet blasts too."

She considers this a limp and inadequate answer.

"But in Barrie they stopped the train whistles."

I hear myself saying:

"It's all about safety. Maybe in Barrie there aren't so many crossings of the track. I don't know. But, yeah, train whistles at the crack of dawn are a real pain in the neck."

She thanks me and continues with her shopping. 

I tell myself to check out what happens in Barrie. I think I lost that vote.

Important Person

As people stream by I quip:

"Please take my leaflet. I could be a very important person in three weeks time." 

Many laugh. Some look bemused.

Now a man in an orange T-shirt asks me how well I get on with the Mayor.

"I think we get on OK. I saw him here earlier why don't you just ask him?"

Man laughs uncontrollably.

"Where can I find a stepladder?"

I join in the laughter.

"Very good! Very good!"

Now the Market Supervisor appears in her dark green outfit.

"I'm afraid you'll have to move. This isn't allowed."

"Fair enough. But I thought it would be OK in the middle of an election."

"No."

As we make our way to the Market entrances to catch people as they arrive and leave, we pass the Town of Newmarket's magnificent stand advising people how they can exercise their right to vote. It is laden with leaflets with two staff on hand to offer advice. On-line voting is the big thing.

These days who needs to meet candidates in the flesh when they can get all they need on-line?

Gordon Prentice 1 October 2022

Details

Written by: Gordon Prentice

Published: 30 September 2022

From Newmarket Today 30 September 2022. (The 2018 graphic (right) and the bar charts are not from the story. These are my inserts)

Joseph Quigley writes:  

Election opponent Gordon Prentice, who has been calling on Tom Vegh to stop accepting funds from builders, says he's moving on from the issue now that the 'significant U-turn' has occurred. 

One of the most contentious issues in the election race for Newmarket's deputy mayor seat may be at an end as incumbent Tom Vegh has promised to not take any donations from developers.

After scrutiny of his 2018 campaign donations, and repeated attacks from opponent Gordon Prentice, Vegh has said he understands residents would prefer candidates avoid taking money that's tied to developers. He said he will be self-financing his campaign this election, according to campaign material.

“I respect that (there are) people who would prefer you don't accept donations from anybody who's doing any business of any kind with the town,” he said. “I just got to respect that.”

Vegh spent approximately $45,420 on his campaign in 2018, putting him over the self-financing limit. As a result, he said he had to raise funds after his election with individual contributions capped out at $1,200. He garnered approximately $22,850 in donations from the building sector.

But Vegh now plans to keep donations out of his campaign. Asked about what that means for his campaign spending compared to 2018, he said this election is different.

“I was not an incumbent last time, and it was a vacant seat,” he said. “In this case, I’m the incumbent, so it’s a different type of campaign.” 

Opponent Prentice wrote in a campaign email that the “significant U-turn” was a long time coming and he is moving on from the issue.

He said it may have been challenging for Vegh to get those same contributions this time after the publicity. 

“I can’t see there being many developers out there who would want to donate money to Tom Vegh,” Prentice said. “Not where there will be press and media attention in the run-up to the election.” 

Financial disclosures do not come out until after the election, but most of Newmarket’s elected candidates did not spend as much as Vegh in 2018. Mayor John Taylor spent about $67,000 on his last campaign and raised about $45,000 in outside donations in a ticketed event, but told NewmarketToday in 2019 that he did not take donations from developers.

Spending for others who won council seats in the last election were all less than $10,000. Councillor Jane Twinney, who had approximately $3,000 in developer donations in the last election, was acclaimed for this election. 

Vegh has said the previous donations have not influenced him, and he has voted in lockstep with the rest of town council on land-use planning decisions. But Prentice has noted Vegh’s voting record at the regional council level, where he voted in favour of the official plan seen by some as allowing too much sprawl in development. 

Still, the donations are not an issue Vegh said he is hearing about while knocking on doors. He said inflationary cost pressures are the biggest thing residents are worried about. 

“We’re going to have to manage this inflation, and there are ways for us to do that,” Vegh said.

Prentice has encouraged residents to ask Vegh about the campaign donations, the first-time local candidate said. He added that there is some importance in addressing these issues.

“We’re moving into an era of content-free elections. Where people don’t get excited about the elections because it’s just the same old people saying the same old things, with nothing much changing, and people just kind of switch off,” he said. “It’s a triumph of the bland.”

But despite the attacks, Vegh said he has no intention of commenting on his opponent, something he said he had stuck to in his 20 years of campaigns.

“I’m putting forward my 20-year record, the projects we started, we need to complete … That’s what people want to hear. They don’t want to hear me talking about my opponent,” he said. “You’re just supposed to put your best foot forward.”