King Township gearing up for 2006 municipal elections
By Bill Rea

It's election time in King Township, and things are coming together for the Nov. 13 vote.

Beth Palmer, election coordinator for the Township, said most of the help needed to run the election has been hired, although there are still a few openings. "We did our advertising for that quite a while ago," she explained.

She added Township staff will be operating the tabulating machines election night. She said this procedure worked well in the 2003 elections, adding it shouldn't take long for the results to be in after the polls close and the counting starts. "Easily within an hour," she declared.

A total 18 candidates are vying for the eight offices that are up for grabs in King.

Councillor Bill Cober and Trustee Elizabeth Crowe have both been returned to their respective seats on Township council and the York District Catholic School Board without challenge, and Newmarket resident Yves Levesque has been acclaimed as York's representative on Le Conseil scolaire de district Catholique Centre-Sud (the French language Catholic school board). René Laurin of Penetanguishene and Paula Varvaro of Mount Albert are contesting the local seat on Le Conseil scolaire de district du Centre-Sud-Ouest (the French language public school board).

Gord Kerr and Christopher Pape will also be seeking the support of English public school supporters for the local seat on the York Region District School Board.

In the race for mayor, Margaret Black is facing Mark V. Healy and Steve Pellegrini.

Palmer reported last Wednesday there were 14,649 names on the list of qualified electors in King, and all of them are eligible to vote for mayor.

There will be one election-day polling station for Ward 1, which takes up the southeast corner of the township, as far west as Keele Street and north to the

19th sideroad. That voting station will be at King Bible Church at 1555 King Road, west of Dufferin Street. In addition to the mayor and school board races, voters there will see the names of Stephen Kornblum, Cleve Mortelliti and Liina Peacock as their council candidates. Palmer reported there were 2,769 voters in that ward.

Ward 2, which is bordered by the southern boundary of the municipality and runs from Highway 400 to the 10th Concession, north to the 15th Sideroad, will have two polling stations. One will be for people living north of King Road and west of Highway 27, and it will be at Nobleton Senior Public School on the east side of Highway 27. Palmer said 1,025 voters will be able to cast ballots there. The other station will serve the 1,840 voters living in the rest of the ward. It will be at Nobleton Community

municipal elections Centre and Arena. Peter Grandilli and Jeff Laidlaw are seeking that council seat.

There will be three polling stations serving Ward 3, which is the largest ward in King, in terms of geography. The boundaries of the ward start at the northwest corner of the township, running along Highway 9 to the 10th Concession, south to the 18th Sideroad, east to Highway 400, south to the 15th Sideroad, west to the 10th Concession, south to municipal border with Vaughan and west to the municipal border with Caledon. The first poll will serve the 808 voters in the southwest portion of the ward, and it will be located at Nobleton Senior Public School. The second will be for northwest part, with 477 voters on the list, and it will be at Schomberg Community and Agricultural Arena. The other poll will take care of the 741 voters living in the eastern parts of the ward, and it will be at Kettleby- Pottageville Lions Community Hall. Emil Alilovic and Linda Pabst are contesting that council seat.

Cober's acclamation means there will be no council race in Ward 4, but the candidates for mayor and school board will still be seeking votes at the two polls there. The ward is bordered on the north mainly by Highway 9 (although it crosses the road to follow the Holland River between West Canal Bank

Road and Leonard Road) to Highway 400, then south to the 18th Sideroad and west to the 10th Concession. The one poll, serving the 1,763 voters in the west part of the ward (the eastern boundary of that poll will run south along the 8th Concession to Lloydtown-Aurora Road, southeast to the 7th Concession and then south), will be at at the arena in Schomberg. The 1,173 voters in the rest of the ward will go to the Lions hall in Pottageville.

There will be three polling stations in Ward 5, which runs from the southern border of the township north to the 19th Sideroad, between Highway 400 and Keele Street. There are just eight voters on the list for King City Lodge Nursing Home. The 2,257 voters living north of the 17th Sideroad will vote at King City Community Centre and Arena, while the 450 in the rest of the ward will go to the Lions hall in Pottageville. James Durbano and Jane Underhill are contesting the council seat there.

Ward 6, which takes in most of the areas north of Highway 9, as well as the lands bordered by Highway 400, the 19th Sideroad and Bathurst, will have one polling station, at Holland Marsh Christian Reformed Church Hall in Ansnorveldt. There are 1,338 voters on the list, and their choice for councillor will be between Clayton De Vries and Jack Rupke.