With a Sept. 10 nomination deadline just two weeks away, the races are shaping up for seats on Dufferin’s eight municipal councils.

Candidates will be vying for the opportunity to carry the day for the next four years when voters go to the polls October 25.

With just 15 days now remaining until the nomination deadline, there are only 11 candidates for the seven Orangeville council seats, and that includes six incumbents.

In the 2006 election, double that number put their names in. There was a four-way race for mayor, plus two vying for deputy mayor and 17 candidates pursuing the five councillor positions.

Town Clerk Cheryl Johns noted, however, that it is not uncommon for latecomers to throw their hat into the ring. “You think there aren’t that many. Then, all of a sudden, they start to show up.”

And, if the last election is any indication, filing just before deadline does not appear to hinder the candidates’ chances. Four of the elected council members filed within 10 days of the Sept. 29, 2006 deadline. They include Mayor Rob Adams (Sept. 21), and councillors Mary Rose (Sept. 20), Gary Kocialek (Sept. 27) and Scott Wilson (Sept. 29).

All told, 12 candidates entered the race between Sept. 14 and Sept. 29 in 2006.

So far, Mayor Adams remains unchallenged in 2010. But Deputy Mayor Warren Maycock is up against former councillor Ken Manwell and newcomer Don-Christopher Culver.

Four of the current five councillors – Gail Campbell, Sylvia Bradley, Mr. Wilson and Ms. Rose – have filed for re-election. Mr. Kocialek has yet to announce his intentions.

The incumbents are being challenged by Karl Pilatzke, Gary Skinn and Tom Kelly.

In the deputy mayor contest, Mr. Maycock faces an experienced challenger in Mr. Manwell, who served on the previous council, from 2003 to 2006. In his 2006 re-election bid, he finished seventh among the candidates for councillor.

Mr. Culver, on the other hand, is somewhat of a mystery. He filed March 24, making him by far the earliest candidate to do so. Yet, he has been virtually unheard of since.

Ms. Bradley is the latest of the sitting councillors to file. In an interview Tuesday, she said council’s focus, over the last four years, has been “fiscal responsibility,” particularly when it came to servicing the municipal debt.

“Going forward,” she said, “I would like to see more emphasis on future, long-term planning,” including economic and environmental sustainability.

The 2006-2010 council focused on three priorities: keeping property taxes as low as possible, paying down the debt and building up cash reserves, which were lowered considerably when council took advantage of infrastructure grants where the federal and provincial governments were offering to pay two-thirds of the amount of any particular project.

As chair of the town’s budget committee, Ms. Bradley has advocated low tax increases, but conceded in the interview that a “zero increase is unsustainable.”

As for the other two priorities, she said: “We should be more priority on building reserves, but we can’t neglect the debt.”

Ms. Bradley has arguably been the most controversial councillor. She came under fire recently, for her decision to vote against a proposed railside trail when she was council’s representative on the Trailways committee.

“I feel confident with what I’ve done (on council) and I don’t regret any decision I’ve made.” In regards to her decision to vote against the rail trail, her critics accused her of making an 11th-hour decision.

“I was true to what I believe,” she said. “I wanted to gather as much information as I could before making a decision. You are criticized if you make decisions without enough information and your criticized if you wait for the information before you make your decision.”

Like Ms. Bradley, Gary Skinn is for putting emphasis on the building up of reserves. He indicated in an interview that there are a number of emergencies that can occur in the day-to-day operations of a municipality and there should be money on hand.

“Council is not doing too bad a job,” he said, “but we definitely need a balance between old and new faces on council.”

He spoke against the idea of borrowing money to fund projects or replenish reserves, stating that, in his personal life, he attempts to be as debt-free as possible. Currently, said Mr. Skinn, his only debt is his mortgage.

“With the debt what it is, the last thing council would want to do is borrow money.”

Mr. Kelly, a retired railway employee and longtime Orangeville resident, is a familiar face at council meetings.

A major reason he has chosen to run is because he feels there is “a lack of transparency” with the current council. “During council meetings, we should be very clear with our intentions.

“I would discuss everything that comes up.”

The question of transparency came up in October, 2008, when council was accused by some people of voting itself pay raises “behind closed doors,” even though the process they followed was similar to that done by previous councils and was in accordance to regulations in the Ontario Municipal Act.

An ad hoc committee was later formed, which came up with a proposal as to how council should approach the pay-raise process, followed by another which recommended the amount of the raises.

“The approach was to send it to an independent third party, and abide by their recommendations, which ultimately showed that the (pay raises) were not what was originally suggested, but were close,” said Mayor Adams in an interview.

“It showed we are prepared to listen to the public and take appropriate steps.”

As for the term of next council, Mayor Adams advocates it maintain its “steady as she goes” approach of lower tax hikes, paying down the debt and steadily, if not spectacularly, replenishing reserves.

“We’ve made good progress in turning around the town’s finances and creating a stable program. This has been an excellent council; a very professional and cooperative group. I’ve enjoyed the challenge of serving the community.”

By provincial law, nominations must be filed by 2 p.m. on the second Friday in September – this year, on Sept. 10.

All but one present member of Shelburne’s seven-member town council have filed nomination papers, and there are two additional nominees for council position as of Wednesday morning.

Mayor Ed Crewson and Deputy Mayor Ken Bennington are so far unchallenged. Councillors Walter Benotto, Randy Chambers, Geoff Dunlop and Tom Egan have filed but A.J. Cavey has yet to announce her intentions.

Rotarian Fred Fender is taking another run at a council seat. Jodie Jones is the lone newcomer to the Shelburne race to date.

In East Garafraxa, there’s a mayoralty race between incumbent Allen Taylor and Councillor Tom Nevills. So far, Guy Gardhouse is unopposed for the deputy mayor’s position.

Registered for council positions are three newcomers – Neil Hoogendorn, John Kerr and Lenora Bansfield.

In Amaranth, all present members have filed but Councillor Percy Way is challenging present Deputy Mayor Walter Kolodziechuk.

Mayor Don MacIver is unopposed for a return to the chair.

Councillors Bill Cowie and Jane Aultman are the only ones running for the three council seats.

East Luther Grand Valley has a three-way race for the top post and a two-man run for the deputy’s seat. John Ince wants to move up to the mayor’s chair from his present deputy post, but he is opposed by incumbent John Oosterhof and newcomer Brian MacNamara.

Councillor Steve Soloman is being challenged by newcomer Mark Thorpe in his bid to become the deputy mayor.

For the three council seats in ELGV, Rick Taylor had filed to return. Newcomers to the political arena, Gary Whitworth and Dave Robertson, are looking to occupy the other two seats.

There is an interesting race for the mayoralty in Mulmur where Paul Mills is once again challenging incumbent Gordon Montgomery.

Four years ago, the count came down to a tie on a recount, and the outcome was decided by the opening of a neglected envelope.

Unless further nominations are filed, there’ll be races for the mayor and deputy’s posts in Melancthon, but the three council seats would be acclaimed.

For mayor, the race remains between incumbent deputy Bill Hill and newcomer Rob Uffen. The current mayor, Debbie Fawcett, has not declared whether she will seek any office.

For deputy, Barton Malloy is taking on Councillor Darren White, who was appointed to the council mid-term to replace retiring councillor.

The declared candidates for council are all newcomers: Wayne Hannon, Dennis Sanford and Nancy Malek, although all have been constant presences at council meeting.