Candidates from Wards 3 & 4 meet with the public (11 photos)

City council hopefuls in Wards 3 and 4 gathered at the North Branch Library on Wednesday as part of a four-day series of meet and greets ahead of the municipal election in October.

There are four candidates in each ward. Each ward sends two councillors to city hall.

Each contender had an opportunity to open with a statement on their platform, which was followed by a Q&A with voters on several hardline issues currently impacting the community.

In Ward 3, traffic calming measures like lowering speed limits, bringing back red-light cameras, and implementing speed bumps headlined the conversation.

Odd Job Jacks owner Kurtis McDermid says the Sault could be doing more when it comes to safety measures on city roads.

“I want to see more things like speed humps and temporary speed bumps,” he says. “Every city I’ve travelled in, their residential neighbourhoods seem to have more traffic calming measures than any of our subdivisions in this town have – and they do work.”

Along with lowering speed limits in certain areas, retired schoolteacher Ron Zagordo wants the public to be mindful of the costs involved to oversee these changes. 

“Human safety and children is the top priority – no question,” he says. “But if it costs people taxpayer money, we have to respect that too.”

Luis Moreno doesn’t think the costs would be significant.

 “These concerns need more research, but I don’t think it’s going to cost that much money,” he says. “I will work with other councillors to determine how much it costs.”

Reducing speed limits to 30 km/hour in residential areas was also brought up, but Angela Caputo, owner of The Breakfast Pig, does not support that.

“I think we have bigger fish to fry when it comes to safety concerns,” she says. “More stop signs and more speed bumps are doable things. We need traffic studies, and that’s something I’m willing to look into.”

Of the four residents running for Ward 3, none of them have served on city council, which sparked one voter to ask the candidates about their experience, as well as the qualities that would serve them well at city hall.

As business owners, Caputo and McDermid believe their ability to lead a team and work with others would go a long way.

“I think I’ve worked really hard to establish myself as a leader in this community,” Caputo says. “I’ve done so because I love the city. I will bring forward my leadership and the proven skills I’ve attained through being a business owner.”

“We have this absolutely phenomenal community of business owners, and I am extremely happy to be a part of it,” McDermid says. “We’ve fostered this amazing ability to work together without having to worry about competition.”

Recently retired, Zagordo explains he will have more time to meet the needs of the community, with a focus on the school system.

“I can service people now as a councillor – all day, every day,” he says. “We need to make that connection between city hall and our schools a lot stronger. Reaching our youth is extremely important. The earlier we can get them; they can set themselves up for the rest of their lives.”

Moreno makes a similar pledge to be present for voters.

“I’ve heard over and over we have part-time city councillors, that they have too many things to juggle,” he says. “I promise that if I’m elected to city council, I will be there for you, I will listen, and I plan on being a responsible representative.”

Meanwhile, the Ward 4 meet and greet got into the thick of things quickly when a resident pressed the candidates on ‘private’ data collection, expressing concerns with the automatic licence plate recognition system, red-light cameras, and the protection of private health information. 

Former city councillor David Celetti made his stance clear.

“They don’t need to have any more information on you, on me, or anybody,” he says. “They can go take their machines and their red lights – it’s not happening here. As long as I’m on council, it’s not happening here.”

Stephan Kinach, a foreign-trained dentist born and raised in the Sault, agrees it’s important to protect people’s data, but he doesn’t think locals should be concerned about the licence plate technology.

“If you’re really worried about the camera catching your license plate, if you slow down, guess what – they don’t take your picture.”

Last month, Premier Doug Ford announced legislation that would give mayors in Ontario more power, including the ability to veto certain bylaws. While it’s only slated for Toronto and Ottawa at this time, there have been talks of expanding this legislation to other cities in the province.

Every Ward 4 candidate agreed they do not want to see that happen here.

“I don’t support it,” Marek McLeod says. “The mayor has the same vote as a city councillor, and that’s how it should stay.”

“The mayor has one vote, and that’s the only vote they should have,” Marchy Bruni echoed. “The mayor has influence but should not have that power.”

Like the Ward 3 meet and greet, voters questioned the candidates on how they would manage speeding, aggressive driving, and noise pollution in the city.

Bruni, who is vying for a fourth term on city council, says he has put in a request to implement more digital signs around town to offset the lack of officers who can monitor these demands.

“Our manpower is down with police services,” he says. “We need to hire more police officers, but at what cost? We need to lower speed around school zones and implement more flashing lights.”

Celetti also expressed his concerns with speeding, and says the city needs more police to enforce the issue.

“I’ve been to the police station reporting speeding several times and nothing’s been done,” he says. “I want to get on the police board and ask if someone’s going to come out and monitor this, because nobody’s monitoring it right now. I don’t want to see one child get a scratch.”

McLeod, the former vice-chair of the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council, says implementing preventive measures like speed bumps and narrowing roads would help tackle the problem.

“We need to focus on residential streets,” he says. “If we can narrow particularly wide streets where there’s no sidewalk – then let’s put one in. Let’s get two birds with one stone – having accessibility and narrow roads which prevents speeding.”

When it comes to noise pollution, Kinach drives a hybrid car with an electric engine, and he explains that roads will gradually become quieter as the world goes more electric.

“The future is coming,” he says. “When it comes to speeding, it seems that lights aren’t timed as well as they could be, which is forcing people to cut through residential streets. I’d like to see removable speed bumps put in if a neighbourhood wants it.”

On Thursday, voters can attend the Ward 5 meet and greet at the North Branch Library at 6:30 p.m. The city’s five mayoral candidates will be available for questions at the James L. McIntyre Centennial Library at a future date yet to be determined.

The municipal election is Monday Oct. 24.