Ward 5 incumbent Robert Kirwan sounded off in a press release recently about the negativity that has surrounded this election campaign.
"I don’t think we have ever witnessed the level of negative campaigning that we are experiencing leading up to the municipal election this year in the City of Greater Sudbury," said Kirwan.
"Every single day vicious personal attacks are launched by mayoral and ward council candidates who are obviously trying to destroy the reputation of the incumbent mayor and city councillors."
Kirwan hopes that in the final days of the election, candidates direct their focus on their own strengths rather than taking down incumbents.
Full text of Kirwan's news release can be found below:
Staff deserve better treatment
I don’t think we have ever witnessed the level of negative campaigning that we are experiencing leading up to the municipal election this year in the City of Greater Sudbury.
Every single day vicious personal attacks are launched by mayoral and ward council candidates who are obviously trying to destroy the reputation of the incumbent mayor and city councillors.
As Councillor of Ward 5 for the past four years, I have become accustomed to derogatory comments from people whose sole intent has been to undermine my character with false and misleading information about me.
Their goal has been to ultimately convince my constituents that I am not a credible representative so that another candidate could have a better chance of defeating me in an election. Fortunately my constituents can see through their nefarious games.
I understand that some candidates may think it is fair game to attack incumbents, but I am absolutely appalled with the way our city staff have been implicated by some of the comments that have been made by a lot of candidates in this election.
Many candidates are accusing the mayor and councillors of poor leadership, lacking transparency, being reckless with tax payer money, and even going so far as to imply that there is a culture of corruption and manipulation at Tom Davies Square that involves politicians and management.
There have been calls for wage freezes, staff reductions, getting rid of senior management, and all sorts of other reprehensible comments that give the general public the false impression that everyone working at Tom Davies Square must be immoral and unethical.
At this time, I want to declare publicly and make it perfectly clear that after four years as Councillor of Ward 5, I have nothing but respect for the staff members who serve the citizens of this city. These men and women are citizens and homeowners and constituents. They are your friends and neighbours; they coach your children; they are members of your church and community organizations; and they are the volunteers who add to the quality of life to so many of our disadvantaged citizens.
The staff members I have encountered want a positive quality of life for everyone in this city and they would never do anything that would intentionally place the wellness of any of our residents at risk. I know firsthand that the people working for the City are among the most professional, dedicated public servants you will ever meet.
Our staff members do not deserve to have their integrity maligned by candidates who are trying to gain a political advantage over an incumbent mayor or councillor. I hope that during the final days of this election campaign all candidates will focus on their own strengths and qualities rather than running down the incumbents and in so doing implicating our hard working and devoted staff members. They deserve to be treated with a lot more respect than they have been getting from some of the candidates during the past several months.
I want to thank all of our staff members for their dedication and commitment. I look forward to working with you for four more years.
