The 27,000 Orangeville residents who didn't make it to the only all-candidates meeting for the Nov. 13 municipal election still have a chance to see the 23 candidates in action, provided they have access to the local Rogers cable TV channel 63.

Present for the Oct. 25 event, the cable station began airing the proceedings on Monday and will repeat the programming tomorrow (Friday) at 8 p.m., Saturday at 10:30 p.m., next Tuesday at 5:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m., Thursday at 5:30 a.m. and Friday, Nov. 10, at 8 p.m.

Questions directed to the mayoral candidates dominated the 75-minute time slot permitted during question period at the session in the Orangeville District Secondary School cafetorium, hosted by the Greater Dufferin Area Chamber of Commerce.

About 425 residents attended the 3 1/2-hour debate during which eight of the 13 questions asked were directed to mayoral candidates Rob Adams, Brent Blackburn, Nick Garisto and Jim MacGregor.

One was also posed to the deputy mayor candidates, current councillors Warren Maycock and Doug Wilcox.

Just one question was directed to the 17 candidates vying for one of the five councillor seats, one to all the candidates and two to those currently on council.

Since there are so many candidates in Orangeville the chamber allowed each to answer a maximum of five questions, but questions directed to a specific candidate didn't count as one of the five.

The controversy over the cost of the Broadway medians initiated the most debate among the candidates and murmur from the audience. Since that question was directed to current members of council, all candidates were given an opportunity to answer.

Councillor Gail Campbell simply said money for the beautification project wasn't from Town funds. It was raised by Mayor Drew Brown.

Ray Daubney questioned whether the money was donated,

since in his experience nothing comes for free. The public should have been made aware of what was being planned, as many residents were surprised by the project. He added there wasn't enough public consultation on the medians.

Jim Jordan acknowledged some people are in favour of the medians while others aren't, and asked the audience if they were or weren't in favour of the medians. The response was a resounding no.

Ken Manwell said to his understanding the money fundraised was to cover the cost of the barriers and plantings, as well as the structures within the barriers. He said they were an eyesore to begin with and it's unfortunate they couldn't have been started and finished all at the same time. Councillor Manwell added he's heard a lot of people say they will make their decision on the medians when they are all complete.

Mary Rose said she doesn't like the medians but a lot of the merchants downtown love them and think it will be a great place for people to congregate when they visit the downtown core.

Rob Adams said he has a letter indicating the project cost $934,000 of taxpayers' money. He added the amount to be fundraised was $500,000 but projects that are covered by that money have reached over $600,000. Whether or not residents like the medians, he said they should have been consulted before the decision was made.

Deputy Mayor Jim MacGregor said the $934,000 figure was not directly related to the medians but rather the reconstruction of the original part of Broadway. As well, he said $500,000 was the goal to fundraise, and just because it has been reached doesn't mean the fundraising has stopped. He added that he understood from the mayor that it hasn't stopped.

According to Treasurer Wayne Church, the deputy mayor is correct. The $934,000 was the actual cost to rehabilitate the pavement on Broadway from Centre Street right down to A&W. This includes new sidewalks and trees as well as the concrete used to construct the medians.

The landscaping inside the medians had all been fundraised by Mayor Brown. Originally the landscaping was to cost $500,000, it is now around $620,000. Mr. Church said the mayor is continuing to fundraise for the difference.

Councillor Warren Maycock said he didn't support the decision to go ahead with the project because of the safety risks for emergency vehicles and because neither Heritage Orangeville or members of the Business Improvement Area (BIA) were consulted before a final decision was made.

Sabina Auberger said an emergency meeting had been called on the matter to discuss discretionary funds and stated there is no reason to hold an emergency meeting for discretionary funds, but rather a public consultation should be held first.

Sylvia Bradley said she went to council and asked if the medians will be completely paid for by donations and the mayor told her yes, including the boulevards and the work underneath. She says a report from Director of Public Works Jack Tupling now indicates the medians, boulevard, plumbing and electrical work are being partly paid for by taxpayers' dollars.

Broadway wasn't the only financial question to come up during the debate, as finances dominated the majority of questions asked, including rising property taxes and debt.

With a couple of candidates offering a zero per cent tax increase for two of the four years, one resident asked how this will be achieved.

Brent Blackburn said it will be impossible to freeze taxes for two years because of operating costs and inflation. He said the Town needs about $40 or $50 from the average household taxes to cover the cost to maintain emergency vehicles and the same amount to pay down the debt.

Nick Garisto says he has done his research and has a plan on how he will accomplish this promise, as it can be done with the right council. He said there is revenue, gas tax funds, money from the county, Orangeville Hydro and the capital budget and the sale of the old police station that can be used to prevent a tax increase.

Rob Adams said Mr. Garisto is pulling figures from the budget and residents don't need promises on what the candidates will do, but specifics on what council has to do to turn the finances around.

He said the new council will have to attract industry, stop turning industrial land

into residential subdivisions, find savings in the budget, other sources of revenue and fix relations with neighbouring municipalities.

Ever since budget restraints forced both libraries to cut back operating hours earlier in the year, residents have loathed the decision and written numerous letters to council.

Mr. MacGregor said he won't make that mistake again, as the few thousand dollars cut wasn't worth the backlash from residents. He said he doesn't see council increasing service, unless the Town can pay for it, but he also doesn't see them decreasing it.

Nick Garisto said it's important council re-establish a relationship with surrounding municipalities to bring in additional revenue.

The mayoral and deputy mayor candidates were asked about their record of attending council meetings either as a resident trying to stay on top of the issues or as a member.

Councillor Doug Wilcox said he wasn't going to answer the question because he won't engage in American style mudslinging politics.

Mr. Garisto was proud to announce that over the last three years he's attended at least 15 meetings each year.

Mr. Adams said he hasn't attended any, but has been a quiet member of the community.

Mr. Blackburn has attended about 10 to 12 and said even though he hasn't attended every meeting he has been following the issues and was a part of the group lobbying against the borrowing.

Look for candidate profiles in today's paper. This feature was started last week and will continue until the Nov. 9 issue.

The chamber will be hosting another all-candidates debate on Nov. 8 for all candidates who would have a seat on county council. It will be held at Mono Centre and start at 7 p.m.