Election 2014 Must Read

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During this Council’s term (2010 to 2014) midlandcommunity.ca volunteers have invested thousands of hours attending most Town meetings and reporting to you on the good, the bad and the ugly.

All in all, there has been some real progress made this term on the things you told us matter to you. While Council has faced strong ‘headwinds’ related to the local economy and our appetite for spending, collectively this Council has successfully slowed Midland’s rate of spending and tax increases, rejected or unwound counter-productive policy choices and taken real action around economic development and tourism. These are three key areas needing focus and action to get Midland back to work.

We have had many inquiries about Midlandcommunity.ca’s role in the 2014 election and, as a result have committed to the following:

1) We have invited all candidates to respond to the following four questions – the responses will be posted on our web site with links emailed to you so you can make one-stop comparisons:

a) I am running for Midland Town Council because…

b) My vision for Midland is…

c) I will accomplish this vision by focusing on the following three things.

d) Describe your top three accomplishments that make you a good candidate for Council. For current or previous members of council, please focus on your top three in that role.

2) Midlandcommunity.ca and our Downtown Merchants BIA will co-host two “meet the candidate” nights on October 6th and 7th respectively. The first evening will host all candidates running for Councillor in Wards 1, 2, and 3 (approximately 12-15). The second evening will host candidates for Mayor and Deputy Mayor who run in Town-wide races (approximately 8-10). Both meetings begin at 7:00 upstairs at the North Simcoe Sports & Recreation Centre. Please mark your calendars for these sessions and RSVP to talktous@midlandcommunity.ca.

3) After these sessions are complete, we expect to endorse a group of candidates who we believe will be best suited to lead our Town for the next four years and maximize all of Midland’s opportunities.

In addition to these election related activities, you may also be interested to learn that Roy Ellis will address Midland Council on September 22nd shortly after 7:00 p.m. The topic is “Midland matters – how community engagement helps economic growth”. Please plan to attend or watch the deputation live on RogersTV.

Please forward this email on to any of your friends and neighbours who might be interested in any of these items. They can get themselves on our list to receive all our email updates by clicking this link: http://bit.ly/1AapGt9

Watch your Inbox and we hope to see you at some of these upcoming events!

Midland matters, you matter and getting involved matters.

Midlandcommunity.ca

2 Comments on "Election 2014 Must Read"

  1. I attended both all candidates meet and greets at NSSRC and have a few comments. First, I find your video very biased as to who you highlight. Why not have included a few minutes from each of the candidates’ opening remarks and closings. This would have given a much more balanced review of candidates. As it stands now, you are obviously trying to sway the voters towards your personal choices of candidates. I thought your role was supposed to be unbiased in these events, along with the BIA. Have the BIA members and Midlandcommunity members been consulted? This is blatant favoritism, and I for one, see what you are trying to do.

    • Midland Community | October 16, 2014 at 10:05 am | Reply

      Thank you for your comment and for attending the Meet & Greets.

      We have received positive feedback from many members regarding our efforts to provide exposure to the candidates running for office and the issues. We have also received a few comments about Midlandcomminity.ca showing bias, particularly related to our recent endorsement of eight candidates in the upcoming election.

      We want to be very clear about this. Midlandcommunity.ca favours certain values and behaviours. We in turn favour candidates who embrace efficiency, transparency, accountability, and integrity – not their opposites. We want to see the best possible candidates elected to benefit all Midlanders.

      The core steering team of midlandcommunity.ca has spent thousands of hours attending meetings on your behalf and summarizing highlights and outcomes. The team has hosted meetings so citizens can make more informed decisions about the many candidates who want to represent us for the next four years. We try to provide the community with timely updates, the facts and, most recently, a formal endorsement of candidates we recommend you consider. At the end of the day, you and all other voters ultimately decide how to cast your ballots.

      From our vantage point, no apologies are necessary for endorsing some candidates over others. The Mirror, Midland’s only newspaper, is likely to endorse some candidates too.

      We never expect anybody to always agree with our views. Nor should you expect us to always reflect yours.

      Please note due to popular demand, we have made available all the video footage from our Meet and Greets. While the audio is not great, both nights are now available to watch here:

      Councillor Meet & Greet Oct. 6 http://youtu.be/0O0JRmZ0m5k
      Mayoral Meet & Greet Oct. 7 http://youtu.be/X7uir6Ox5lc

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