One last campaign push for the mayoral candidates in St. Thomas, Ont. With just hours left until the city’s electronic voting closes, and nearly 80 per cent of eligible votes up for grabs, councillor Jeff Kohler and his supporters were stationed at one of the busiest intersections in the city. “We completed our door-to-door a couple of weeks ago because we wanted to make sure that everybody was touched on before the voting started,” said Kohler. “Today (Saturday) we wanted to get the team back together for one last little push and do a wave and hopefully excite some people to get out and vote.” Kohler, 58, served on city council for 22 years going back to 2000 when he was appointed to council. Three years later he was appointed mayor and won the 2004 race before losing his bid in 2006. He returned as an alderman/councillor in 2010 and has been at city hall ever since. “For our message we went with local, capable, proven leadership,” added Kohler. “The next four years are going to be pretty tough in Saint Thomas. We’ve had some exceptional growth opportunities, but it’s how can we get to that to where we start recouping some of that money? We need to have some experience to lead the way through there.” While Kohler has the experience at City Hall, across the city a newcomer is looking to get his foot in the door. 27-year-old Aidan Frederick was canvassing to let constituents know his vision for St. Thomas. Frederick is a software engineering graduate from Western University and an accountant. “That’s really a part of why I was running to get a younger voice,” said Frederick. “A different perspective that hasn’t been locked into the system for 20 years.” Frederick would like to focus on the city’s transit system, specially rail transit. While canvassing he’s hearing different concerns from constituents. “I think there’s a lot of both concern and excitement about the growth that we’re seeing,” said Frederick. “A lot of people are wondering how it’s going to affect their day to day. But as well, there’s also this kind of excitement of what new opportunities could bring.” The third candidate in the campaign is Corey Janzen. His platform says he wants accountability and transparency, cutting useless waste, reducing unnecessary expenses, and public safety. After the retirement of two-term mayor Joe Preston, the city of St. Thomas will have a new man at the helm for the first time since 2018. During his tenure Preston took pride in reducing homelessness, building affordable and supportive housing units and bringing major industry. Nearly 20 years after the closure of the Sterling and Ford plants, the city is once again booming. The new mayor will have big shoes to fill. “It takes a team to do this, and the right leader will gather a team that is able to do it,” said Preston. “There’s nothing singular about being the mayor other than you maybe start the meeting and end the meeting. It’s about getting a team to pass bylaws, and to negotiate the right deals collectively.” As Preston leaves, St. Thomas is entering one of the most important decades in the city’s history. “That’s why our slogan is ‘Continue to build on the momentum,’” said Kohler. “We’ve brought things to a certain level right now, and we want to make sure we continue with that. With affordable housing and the social housing, we need to look at expanding that and expanding it over to seniors as well. We need to make sure we’ve done a great job with our homelessness. We’re recognized nationally for that. But now it’s time to make sure that we include everybody and the diverse housing that we’re promoting is helping that out with affordability.” Frederick credits the current council with getting the city on the right track, and now he wants to be the one to help carry that momentum. “We’ve got a pretty good path going forward and a strategic plan to still follow to finish some of the great big things we’ve been working on,” said Frederick. “With the right council, any mayor should be able to say, hey, ‘Let’s take this step next and then this step next.” As of late Friday, less than 20 per cent of eligible voters had cast their ballots. For those who struggle with the electronic voting process in St. Thomas the city has set up in-person voter assistance centres. Voters can receive help Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Elgin Centre at 417 Wellington St. and Monday Oct. 26 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the St. Thomas Public Library at 153 Curtis St.
