Former Ward 1 councillor files for mayoral run
BY SAMUEL PICCOLO The VOICE
Former Councillor Marvin Junkin is the first official candidate in the mayoral race, filing his nomination papers last Thursday and then marching in the Fenwick Lions parade on Friday evening. Junkin, who was elected to represent Ward 1 in 2014, resigned from Pelham Town Council last November, alleging that the true state of the Town’s finances was being withheld from the public.
The decision to run for mayor, Junkin said, was not one that he made until recently.
“I resigned because I thought I had a duty to tell my constituents the information Council was given on September 5,” he said. “If I hadn’t resigned, I don’t think that it would have ever come out.”
“I started thinking about running after speaking at some of the Regional Council meetings,” said Junkin. “I did that all as a private citizen—I was never involved with any group. I was trying to get answers about the Town’s finances.”
Upon his resignation, Junkin alleged that the Town had emptied its reserves, leaving it $17 million dollars deeper in debt than it otherwise appeared.
Subsequent to Junkin’s allegations, the Town released part of a KPMG report which indeed showed that the Town’s reserves were empty of cash. While the amount of debt that the Town needs to replenish these reserves was presented on September 5 as $17 million, as Junkin said, this figured was reduced after his resignation to some $10 million, then dropped again this spring.
Junkin said that the degree of secrecy in which the Town operated bothers him.
“It’s treated as if it’s a private corporation. For an example, in any other town, that financial agreement with Meridian for the [community centre] naming rights would be made public. Here it’s, ‘None of your business.’”
Junkin also pointed towards the Town’s continued inability to provide tender documents for development work done in East Fonthill.
“That’s millions of dollars spent there, and the Town has had months to provide the information. Maybe nothing is going on, but why is it taking so long?” he said.
He said that a pillar of his platform will be open government.
“I hesitate to use the word ‘transparency,’ because that’s what the Town says it is now. I think that people are tired of ‘transparency’ and its opaqueness.”
Junkin said that a pressing issue for the next council will be the community centre’s operation. He and Councillor Peter Papp were the only two to vote against building the centre in 2016.
“I know that some people will be still thinking about how I voted against it,” he said. “And I still think that a project of that size in a town Pelham’s size should have gone to referendum. But I don't want to dwell on the community centre. Although I voted against it, the reality of the coming council is going to be to run it efficiently and in a way that the Town can afford.”
Junkin has lived in Pelham his entire life, operating a dairy farm of 100 cows in North Pelham before selling them in 2012 and continuing to cultivate cash crops.
“You think about a lot of things when you’re bouncing across a field on a tractor,” he said.
His four children grown, Junkin lives on his Roland Road farm with his wife, Candace.
“I farm 450 acres now, and I’ve got a lot of people willing to help on the farm if I am elected,” he said.
“I studied at the University of Adversity. When you’re a farmer, every year is different. You have to adapt to conditions, and I learned a lot about life and economics by doing that,” he said. “It’s different than collecting a regular paycheque—if the farm doesn’t make any money, then you don’t make any money.”
At the Lions parade in Fenwick on Friday, Junkin walked alongside a Jeep driven by his son-in-law, with two of his grandchildren riding in the back. As he passed through the downtown, some onlookers stood and applauded him, as they have at various public meetings since his resignation from council. .
Junkin acknowledged that his roots are in rural Pelham and in Fenwick, but said that he values the more urban parts of the town too.
“I gleaned a lot of information from Town staff during my time on council,” said Junkin. “The vast majority of staff are excellent, and I would like to have the opportunity to work with them again. Some others, not so much.”
“I think that small-town Pelham has been force-fed big-city politics, something that we really don’t want,” said Junkin. “That has nothing to do with development.”
Junkin said he was alluding to what he feels is the Town’s pre-occupation with public relations and promotional efforts, instead of honest dialogue with residents.
“I really enjoyed my time on council,” said Junkin. “I was in an awkward position where I had to resign to serve my constituents, I would look forward to the chance to return and work for them again.”
