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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Wednesday, January 15, 2014 | 6 Municipal elections govern close to home This coming fall, Oct. 27, Oakville residents will be electing people to lead our local government over the next four years. Besides casting a ballot for a mayor, eligible voters will decide who will represent each of the town's six wards on Town council and Halton Regional council. Locally, voters will also contribute to choosing who will ll the elected leader of Halton Region, and choose a school trustee to represent them on the school board -- public or Catholic -- they support. If you've had concerns about any aspect of local government over the last four years, this is the time to speak out through your vote, or by challenging any of those who've held positions of political power since 2010 and are seeking re-election. Between now and Nomination Day (Friday, Sept. 12), anyone wishing to run for an elected position must le a nomination form, in person, at Town Hall, 1225 Trafalgar Rd. Nominations, which opened Jan. 2, have already been led by many incumbents. For information about candidate eligibility, call the Oakville clerk's of ce at 905-845-6601 or visit the Town of Oakville's website at www.oakville.ca. To vote in the 2014 municipal election, you must be 18 or older, a Canadian citizen and qualify to vote in your municipality. If you're uncertain about your voter eligibility for Oakville's election, call the clerk's of ce or visit the Town's website. It is a big commitment of time and personal dedication to run for local government. As always, we owe a vote of thanks to those who have, or will, take on that role. Oakville Mayor Rob Burton, who is seeking his third term as mayor, recently said, "Oakville has important work ahead. We have put the Town, Region and the police on a path that is environmentally and nancially sustainable. "We are controlling growth and protecting our environment, our green space, our heritage and our job lands. We are catching up with our facilities needs. When we created our new Of cial Plan, Livable Oakville, in 2010 we drew the broad outlines of the town we want to live in and leave to our children. We began lling in the details during this term of council. I want to continue that work." There is no end to issues that currently do, and will face, our town. Taxes, growth, development charges, revitalization of the downtown and Kerr Village, development in and around Bronte Village, safeguarding heritage, the lakefront and the character of many communities that make up Oakville, are all important. The opening of our new hospital, new and improved local facilities, clean up of ice storm damage, continued development of North Park -- again, all on the agenda. If you are seeking election or re-election, make sure you're in touch with the community. If new to Oakville, pay attention to the election, all-candidates meetings and learn about your new hometown. Everyone has a critical role to play in municipal elections, the elections that govern what's closest to home, by learning, listening and investing of their time. Editorial L O Y O L A "Connected to your Community" D O N A T E S 447 Speers Road, Oakville ON, L6K 3S4 General Inquiries: (905) 845-3824 Editorial Department: (905) 632-0588 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 52 | Number 6 The Oakville Beaver is a division of Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Vice ­President and Group Publisher of Metroland West Regional General Manager Halton Region Editor in Chief Advertising Director NEIL OLIVER DAVID HARVEY JILL DAVIS St. Ignatius of Loyola Secondary School students produced and sold their own 2014 student art calendar raising $1,138 for Fareshare food bank. Pictured are some of the students who helped produce or sell the calendar: (back row, from left) Riyam Husam, Suzanne Lee, Silvia Lee, Isabel Monagas, Joel Louzado, Nicole Salapic, Alexandra Lowe, Leanne Chiasson, Tobi Shodeinde, Colin Puigmarti, Alexander Santos; (front row, from left) Lucia Kim, Victoria Slavin, Ailish Sadowick, Elisa DeBoo, Niki Ferraro, Mariana Kurobasa, Gabby Vojtila, Ola Rzeszutek, Kaitlin Nasrala. | submitted photo DANIEL BAIRD Managing Editor ANGELA BLACKBURN RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director Business Manager Director of Production New waste calendar full of information Gary Carr Halton Regional Chair My View SANDY PARE MARK DILLS MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager Director of Distribution T his week, the 2014 Waste Management Guide and Collection Calendar is being delivered to residents' mailboxes. The calendar, which has everything you need to know about waste collection in Halton Region, includes a schedule for Blue Box, GreenCart, garbage, bulk waste and yard waste collection and information on the Halton Waste Management Site. The calendar also has interesting information on how Halton's effective waste management practices are contributing to the region's sustainability and making good nancial sense for the taxpayer. For example, Halton's land ll was originally planned to close in 2012. Thanks to the diligent diversion efforts of our residents, the land ll life has been extended to 2044. With a replacement cost running close to $1 billion, this commitment to increasing diversion not only bene ts our natural environment; it's also nancially good for the taxpayer. As part of our commitment to being an effective government providing high quality services, we're also making it easier for residents to remember their waste collection schedule. Not only can you see your calendar online at www.halton.ca/wastecalendar, you can also go there to sign up for weekly reminders through email, phone or Twitter and even add a collection schedule to your personal electronic device. To help support ice storm clean-up efforts, we're providing brush collection until the end of February and lifting the garbage bag/can limit for the month of January. Until Jan. 31, residents can place up to six bags or cans of garbage without a garbage tag for collection on their scheduled garbage collection day. Until Feb. 28, brush debris will be picked up on the same day as garbage in existing collection areas. Until the end of February, residents and contractors can also drop off brush debris at the Halton Waste Management Site free of charge. You can also look online at www.halton.ca/waste to see up to date information and other debris dropoff locations in your community to help with ice storm clean up. As always, if you have any Regional concerns or comments you would like to share, please feel free to email me at gary.carr@halton.ca. You can also nd me on Twitter @garycarrhalton, LinkedIn or Facebook. To receive further updates on Regional issues, please subscribe to my quarterly e-newsletter, The Carr Report. CHARLENE HALL KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Proud Official Media Sponsor For: The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to: The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 5040 Mainway, Burlington ON, L7L 5Z1, or via e-mail to: ablackburn@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.