With Friday’s deadline for filing nominations fast approaching, the only town in Dufferin with a mayoralty race was Mono, where incumbent Mayor Lorie Haddock faces a challenge from councillor Laura Ryan.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Orangeville Mayor Rob Adams and Shelburne Mayor Ed Crewson were both unopposed in their bids for another four-year term.

In Orangeville, the number of town council hopefuls increased by two this week with the addition of Orangeville businesswoman Christine Leith to the race, as well as former computer analyst Mike Steele.

As a result, there are now 11 candidates vying for five councillor seats. Two are in race for deputy mayor.

Ms. Leith is a 30-year resident of Orangeville who operates a bed and breakfast and is in the property management business. “As an entrepreneur, I feel I can see what Orangeville needs,” she said in an interview, “and that is to be run by someone with a business sense.”

Mr. Steele, 64, has lived in Orangeville for five years and looks at the needs of seniors and the mobility of disabled individuals as key issues. They, among other things, should share equal billing with the current council’s priorities of keeping tax increases relatively low, repaying the municipal debt and gradually replenishing the town’s cash reserves.

“The bottom line looks good on paper,” he said in an interview, “but how does it affect the individual?”

Meanwhile, should Mr. Adams remain unopposed, he said he would remain in campaign mode until the October 25 election.

“I can’t take anything for granted,” he said Wednesday. “I put my name in because I enjoy serving the community and I think I can make a positive contribution.

“It’s important to get out there and hear what people have to say. Elections are time to get out there and listen carefully to what the residents’ concerns are.”

Mr. Steele, for the most part, applauds how the current council has kept the town’s fiscal house in order.

“They are going about it at a decent rate,” he said, “but there has to be something done on an emergency level.”

Having undergone a heart transplant last year, Mr. Steele has first-hand knowledge of how difficult it is for a disabled individual to get around and feels something should be done immediately to improve the town’s public transit system.

He adds that it is extremely difficult for those on a disability pension, and seniors, to get affordable housing. The recently completed affordable housing complex on Lawrence Avenue is, in Mr. Steele’s opinion, “a giant step in the right direction. But we need more of it.”

Seniors housing issues were also a major reason Ms. Leith opted to enter the race. She recalls being upset when a proposed adult living project, One Elizabeth Street, was granted the necessary sewage treatment allotment units to proceed with construction, even though it was still developing a site plan and not ready to break ground.

Another developer, Origin, was ready to proceed with a project at 60-62 First Street and had received the planning department’s final approval. Council, however, turned down its sewer allotment request.

Ms. Leith said she would, had she been on council, checked with the 1 Elizabeth Street developers to see if they were indeed ready to proceed. If not, she would have liked to see their allotments given to Origin. “It only makes sense,” she said.

The Origin development would have meant jobs during construction and after completion and Ms. Leith repeated throughout the interview that attracting commercial business and light industry to Orangeville is of prime importance.

Ms. Leith said that, if elected, she would make every effort to see that there are no property tax increases over the next council’s four-year term. To accomplish this, she said an item-by-item decision making process should be in force.

For example, she said that, had she been on the current council, she never would have voted to allocate $110,000 for the controversial rail-side trail.

In the interview, Ms. Leith also said “council should be absolutely transparent and accessible to the public.” She added that, as well as the present question period during public meeting, there should be a mailbox at Town Hall where residents could write in questions that would be raised at the meetings.

Mr. Steele, while saying the needs of the seniors and disabled are close to his heart, insisted he would not be a single issue candidate. “There is no number one issue,” he said, adding that there are many things he deems important.

“There is a beautiful heritage in this town,” said Mr. Steele, “and I would like to see it kept up.”

The latest nominations were filed a week after Bernadette Hardaker and Sandro Di Pasquale were nominated.

Deputy Mayor Warren Maycock faces competition from former councillor Ken Manwell, newcomer Don-Christopher Culver having withdrawn his nomination last week.

The race for councillors also includes Karl Pilatzke and Gary Skinn as newcomers and incumbents Sylvia Bradley, Scott Wilson, Mary Rose and Gail Campbell.

In Shelburne, Lynda Buffett, who unsuccessfully challenged Mayor Crewson in 2003, is back on the campaign trail as one of eight persons vying for a council seat. All incumbent council members have been nominated and unless there are further nominations by 2 p.m. Friday, both Mayor Crewson and Deputy Mayor Ken Bennington will return by acclamation.

As nominations stand, at least two of the incumbent councillors, besides the mayor and deputy, will be returned as there are five council seats and eight candidates. The incumbents are Walter Benotto, A.J. Cavey, Randy Chambers, Geoff Dunlop and Tom Egan. Challengers are Ms. Buffett, Frank Fender and Jodi Jones.

Ms. Buffett is no stranger to municipal politics, having served previously as a councillor in Whitby prior to moving to Shelburne 15 years ago. In recent years, she has served on several appointed committees.

Her campaign will be based, at least in part, on her vision of a long-term strategic plan for the town.

Mr. Fender, also a prior candidate for a council position, is a Rotarian whose most recent appeals to the council have been for a change in name of Greenwood Park to Rotary Park.

In Melancthon Township, there is a possibility of a totally new council.

There, not a single sitting member has filed for any of the three council seats. The only council nominations have been for newcomers Wayne Hannon, Dennis Sanford and Nancy Malek.

The only two incumbents seeking a return on Oct. 25 are Deputy Mayor Bill Hill and Councillor Darren White – Mr. Hill to step up to the mayor’s chair to replace Mayor Debbie Fawcett, and Mr. White to succeed Mr. Hill as deputy.

Both are challenged by newcomers, Mr. Hill by Rob Uffen, and Mr. White by Barton Malloy.

The Melancthon campaigns are likely to focus largely on aggregates and wind turbines. Since the advent of The Highland Companies purchase of about 7,500 acres in the township, the council has come under fire over a perception that its approach to issues of a proposed quarry, clear-cutting of woodland and demolition of farm buildings, among other things, has not been sufficiently proactive.

The situation in Mulmur is unchanged since last week. There, Councillor Rhonda Campbell Moon is challenging Deputy Mayor Sue Snider and Paul Mills is returning to the ring for a rematch against incumbent Mayor Gord Montgomery. Councillor Jeff Sedgwick had not filed as of Wednesday.

The 2010 municipal election campaign in Amaranth promises to be a heated affair as former mayor Bob Currie has joined the fray as mayoralty candidate with all guns loaded and, he says in effect, a stockpile of ammunition for backup.

As head of township council for 15 years prior to the 2006 election in which he was defeated in a bid for the deputy mayor’s post, Mr. Currie alleges that the township has been mismanaged in the past four years – and that information given to the media and public by the council doesn’t always match the record.

Prior to 2006, incumbent Mayor Don MacIver served as deputy mayor under him. In the 2006 election, Mr. Currie stepped back from the top seat, virtually handing the reins to Mr. MacIver, but he didn’t expect to lose the deputy’s race to a first-time candidate, Walter Kolodziechuk.

It was the first time in 23 years he had lost an election – in 15 years on township council and eight years on school board before that. His decision to step down from the mayoralty four years ago, he says, was taken with the utmost confidence in Mr. MacIver.

Now his views have changed. “There’s a complete, total lack of leadership,” Mr. Currie said Tuesday. “If he (Mayor MacIver) hasn’t lost control, he never had control.”

Mr. Currie’s campaign is expected to focus on fiscal responsibility, honesty and what he views as “a township with “spending completely out of control. Amaranth has gone to pieces.”

Mr. Currie is entering the race with what he indicates is a wealth of pre-campaign support. “In 23 years of school board and council, I’ve never before had so many phone calls (from all sectors), business people (asking me to run).”

His criticism is unlikely to be limited to top leadership. In Tuesday’s interview, he included Deputy Mayor Kolodziechuk and Councillor Bill Cowie, both retired police officers, largely on what he viewed as a lack of business experience – and county council wasn’t left out.

In Amaranth, Councillor Percy Way is running against Mr. Kolodziechuk for the deputy mayor’s position. There are three nominated for the three council seats – incumbent councillors Jane Aultman and Bill Cowie, and newcomer Maurice Hickey.

Unless there are further nominations by 2 p.m. tomorrow, those would be acclaimed and the only campaigns would be for the two top seats.

There will be an all-candidate debate at Amaranth Recreation Hall on Sept. 20 at 7 p.m.

Although Mono Mayor Lorie Haddock faces competition, Deputy Mayor Ken McGhee had no opponent as of late Wednesday.

However, there is a five-way race for the three council seats between incumbent Jean Castel and challengers Elaine Capes, Fred Nix, Bob Mitchell and Rick Banks, who filed on Wednesday.

In East Garafraxa, all members except Allan Boynton have filed for re-election. Only three of those could be elected as Councillor Tom Nevills is challenging Mayor Allen Taylor, the current Warden of Dufferin.

In East Luther Grand Valley, races are in store for all council positions. For mayor, incumbent John Oosterhof faces two opponents in Deputy Mayor John Ince and newcomer Brian MacNamara.

Meanwhile, the position of deputy mayor is being by councillor Stephen Soloman and newcomer Mark Thorpe, and incumbent councillors Rick Taylor and Bill Bus have four challengers in Gary Whitworth, David Robertson, Myrna Roberts and Elizabeth Taylor (not the actress).