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A8 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday November 15, 2000 X Kirk knocks off Petrusich for Ward 4 trustee A By Wilma Blokhuis OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF First time contender Annette Kirk has defeated incumbent Peter Petrusich as Ward 4 trustee in Glen Abbey. Kirk, who works in public relations at the CBC and previously held a simi lar position at the Financial Post/National Post for seven years, defeated Petrusich by a narrow margin o f 1,749 to 1,402 votes in M onday's municipal election. W hen the first results were posted after the polls closed at 8 p.m., Kirk jum ped into a 300 vote lead and never lost it. Petrusich, who served only one term - three years, accepted his defeat. "Obviously I lost," he commented. For him , the m ajor issue was accommodation, "and I think the big issue is still accommodation." Petrusich called Kirk and offered his congratulations. "I'm thrilled," she commented Monday night shortly after her win. "I'm so excited." Kirk, a mother of 14 and 26-yearold daughters and an 11-year-old son, decided to seek the Ward 4 trustee seat "out of concern over how school clo sures will affect my children. `T w o of my children are in French Immersion at QEP, a school that's (scheduled to be) closing. How will this change affect them?" She is pleased about the new (high) school being built in the Glen Abbey area, "and I hope that someday my son will be able to walk to school." Another concern is a doubling in numbers of year 2003 high school graduates, those with OACs and those from the new compressed four-year high school curriculum. "My concern is that there won't be enough spaces in the colleges and uni versities for all of these students, so we have to present some options. Having top A marks may not make that much difference." As a first-time trustee, Kirk says "I'm looking forward to serving stu dents, and my constituents. I will be proactive in seeking input, not just from special interest groups, but from the silent majority as well." The closure o f existing schools in one area to build news schools else where is a major issue, she notes. In the past, Kirk has volunteered at school-based hot lunch programs in schools, fundraising, after school clubs, and resource centres. "My commitment is to act on the best interests of children." Kirk moved to Oakville about seven years ago from the KitchenerWellington area. "One of the reasons for moving here is the high quality of education provid ed by the Halton D istrict School Board. My children have certainly noticed the difference. We have good quality teachers here, and dedicated volunteers." W right sto p s W ard 6 veteran 's retu rn to p o litic s By Kim Amott / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER There will be a new face on Oakville council to represent Ward 6. A very excited Janice Wright, accompanied by equally excited family members and friends, arrived at town hall Monday night to celebrate her election to the position of local councillor. "I'm over the moon -- I'm absolutely thrilled," said Wright, who handily defeated opponent Jim Smith by a vote of 2,435 to 994. Wright says she takes her new responsibilities very seri ously and will be focusing on the issues of development, safety and traffic during the coming three years. She also hopes to help foster community relationships that connect people to others with similar concerns or solutions to prob lems. Although the issue of the development of the lands north of Hwy. 5 was a contentious issue in the north eastern ward during the campaign, Wright says she supports the plan coun cil has recently approved to deal with growth in that area. "W hat's been done so far is the outline," she said. "If we don't have a sketch, we'll end up looking like Mississauga." Local residents will still have an opportunity to have input on the final details of the development plan, she added, but will have to realize that growth is inevitable. "None of us can be so bold as to say, `I want to be the last person to move into Oakville," ' she said. "I think Oakville council has been tremendously responsi ble about (the town's) green space." The election process offered a good opportunity to get in touch with the community, said Wright. "I don't naturally take to the limelight, so it has been a good growin g experience for me," she said. A former president of the Iroquois Ridge Residents Association, Wright has also served as chair of the Sheridan school council and a member of the building committee for the Iroquois Ridge Community Centre. She and her husband own and operate a wood recycling company. Jim Smith was unavailable for comment. ) Linda Hardacre returned easil as Ward 2 local councillor By Howard Mozel OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Linda Hardacre is back for a third term as Ward 2's local councillor after beating her lone challenger by a mar gin of more than two to one. The town's unofficial results had Hardacre collecting 2,880 votes to Mary Paul's 1,389. "I feel good. I feel enthusiastic," said Hardacre. "There are a lot of out standing issues I'm thinking about already." Hardacre was ahead of Paul when the first results rolled in and she stayed in the lead all evening. (The Town's new electronic tabulation sys tem allowed Hardacre to hear from a scrutineer at The Kensington only four minutes after the polls closed.) "I won every poll so there wasn't any question," she said. Hardacre credits her victory to a proven track record which she main tains was clearly understood by vot ers. "I work hard at what I do," said Hardacre. "I try to get solutions... and when you keep doing that you get a lot of people who think you're doing a good job." She also said getting out and knocking on doors helped immensely. "From canvassing I heard first hand the people's concerns," she said. A F ranklin retu rn ed as Ward 6 regional councillor By Kim Arnott SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER you and spread innuendo." Franklin said Need had run "a real ly nasty" campaign, but he had car ried the day because he has worked hard to communicate with voters over his three years on council. "No one has put out more newslet ters to their community than I have," said Franklin, noting that he has paid the cost o f the com munication from his own pocket. In response. Need said, "You always think it's a negative campaign when you don't like your track record put out there." Development, and specifically the planned development of the northern lands, was clearly the hottest issue in the north east Oakville ward during the campaign. Franklin publicly defended a recently-approved town plan for the developm ent of the lands, while Need argued it was flawed and needed to be revisited. Following his election, Franklin said it is up to the town to set the bar for quality high while managing the growth north o f the highway. He added th at his n ew sletters have helped to keep W ard 6 residents inform ed o f the developm ent process. Franklin was the only incumbent regional councillor north o f the QEW to be returned to his seat. Veteran councillor Liz Behrens was defeated in a close race in Ward 5, while Stephen Sparling was handily beaten in Ward 4. Franklin adm itted that the addition of new faces to council will have an im pact on decisions regarding the developm ent o f northern lands. A llan E lgar, p resid en t o f the O akvillegreen C onservation A ssociation, who defeated Sparling, is expected to be a strong anti-devel opm ent voice on council. "I think E lgar will bring some very good, strong environm ental per spectives to the table and I 'm glad of that," said Franklin. "H e's going to be a watchdog on the issue. I'm looking forw ard to his enthusiasm and energy." X Linda Hardacre: easy win for incumbent Ward 2 councillor "Besides, I like what I do." Major issues facing Ward 2 include the environmental assessment for the Dorval Drive extension. There is also the clean-up of 14 Mile Creek, which Hardacre hopes will be come a regu lar budget item. Erosion control for the creek is likewise a priority. Ward 2 is also the first area to embark on the tar-and-chip conver sion program for roads and Hardacre plans to lobby for improvements to the policy. As o f press time, Paul could not be reached for comment. Kurt Franklin has been returned to regional council to represent Ward 6, but his opponent says the vote results suggest he won't be able to rest on his laurels in the coming term. Roberta Need, who gave Franklin a run for his money by collecting 1,513 votes to his 2,213, says voters have been awakened to the issue of the development o f lands north of Hwy. 5 and will be watching him. "A m algam ation is com ing. We could have another election anytime and I'm not going anywhere," she said. "This will be his last term, I'm quite confident." But Franklin, in his initial excite ment as vote results rolled in, dis missed Need. "The looney-tune fringe is out again," he said. "I look at the results and I'm pleased that the public saw that you vote for people with ideas and results, not people who just smear Chapin wins Ward 3 trustee spot in newcomers race^ By Carol Baldw in OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Just as F lorida holds the key to the U.S. presidential election, the C learview com m unity d eterm ined the race for public school trustee in W ard 3. W hile M ary C hapin defeated W endy Burton by 2,115 to 1,784 votes, both candidates agreed the final outcom e had a lot to do with B urton's position on the Clearview com m unity and the busing issue. "M y support in the C learview su b -d iv isio n w as obviously the d e cid in g fa c to r," said a sm iling C hapin after her win. "W endy kind o f alienated that whole residential area by m aking som e statem ents early in the year about m oving them (students) out o f O akville Trafalgar Higb School. H er com m ents were prem ature and the residents rem em bered." Burton agreed that C learview was her dow nfall. "The turnout there was, I think, double what it has ever been," said the journalist. "I don't regret giving people a choice. I still believe in democracy. It's been a great experience for me. I think it was G od's way of telling me to go back to my m anuscript." B urton, sm iled, shrugged and, said, since Chapin has no children in the school system , "She d o esn 't have to live with the repercussions o f her decisions." Chapin, however, seem ed ready to make some tough decisions that would change the way, and more im m ediately the place, in w hich education is delivered in Halton in the future. The new trustee adm itted that she and her colleagues have their work cut out for them, with the Halton D istrict School B o ard 's 2 0 -year strategic plan already in place. She said the item o f utm ost im portance on her agenda is to see som e new schools built in north Oakville. "It has to do with closing one or two schools in south-east O akville and getting a new one built in the high growth areas - that, I think, is the first m ajor piece on my plate," she said. "Several new schools are needed in north O akville, north B urlington, north H alton, and in order to get the funding for that, some o f the older, less populated schools have to be closed, unfortu nately. It's a necessary thing because th a t's the way the g o v ern m en t's funding w orks." Oliver will push for orderly growth . (Continued from page A1) on what's best for the entire communi ty " In addition to traffic gridlock, Oliver explained that his other main area of concern will be growth, which he main tains must be "orderly, affordable and well-planned." Dann said he looks back on his cam paign in an entirely positive light, despite placing second to Oliver. "I'm in excellent shape," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, it was a real edu cation, I enjoyed it. I met a lot of people so it was an enriching experience." If he had come out on top, Dann was adamant he would have devoted his energies to the job. "I would have put substantial effort into the position had I won," said Dann, who explained that he plans to remain a concerned citizen but will be more selec tive about those issues with which he becomes involved. "I will continue to take issue with things as I see fit." Dann said that Ward 2 really needed a "breath of fresh air," which his partici pation on Council would have provided. "It looks like an interesting mix," said Dann. "It looks like a fractious Council." Despite placing third in the race, David Bazar said his spirits remain high. "I feel good," he said. "I don't take it personally." Considering the way he ran his part of the race, Bazar said he wasn't particu larly surprised by Monday's results. "I didn't campaign door-to-door," he said. "I feel pretty good for someone who didn't campaign at all." Bazar - who congratulated Oliver at Town Hall - said on Tuesday morning that he's putting the winner "on notice" that he can expect a hard time if Oliver doesn't do a good job. That said, Bazar maintains that it is "strange" that someone who doesn't live in the ward (Oliver resides in Ward 5) was selected by the people of Ward 2 as their representative. "I hope he represents the interests of the people," said Bazar. As for Dann, Bazar said: "I'm glad (he) didn't win. I'm concerned it might have been a mistake." Mary Chapin: new Ward 3 trustee our residents enjoy: · State-of-the-Art Life safety systems · 24 Hour Staffing · Nurse Manager to assist residents with their own wellness program · Library, Lounges and activities area · Three meals per day served our elegant dining room · Weekly housekeeping & Linen service and more 2109 Lakeshore Road, just east o f Brant Street. For more information and a personal tour, please contact: Tamra Belontz at (9 0 5 ) 6 3 7 -7 7 5 7