Lou Turco skips candidates' debate. Gets lambasted for absenteeism

Update:

Judy Hupponen advises that she missed last night's Ward 3 debate due to a sudden migraine headache.

Original story:

Longtime councillor Lou Turco didn't attend tonight's City Council candidate debates at Algoma University.

"Lou Turco could not be here tonight and sends his regrets," moderator Dr. Trevor Tchir of Algoma University's political science department announced at the beginning of the Ward 2 debate, where Turco is competing with six rivals for two City Council seats.

But that didn't stop challenger Sam Cistaro from tearing a strip off the truant councillor.

"I wish Lou Turco was here tonight. I prepared a lot on his past performance, not only the last four years, but the last 18 years," said Cistaro, who sits on five city committees and is making his first bid for City Council.

"Lou Turco has the most absences of any candidate that's running. Lou Turco has the least amount of motions with five in four years. And two of them are the same. Matthew Shoemaker has 150. So you see who's trying and who's not."

"What troubles me is that none of the other councillors even wanted him to be their seconder on motions. To me, that means he's difficult to work with. This not a career, it's a civic duty," Cistaro said.

Tonight's debates for Wards 1, 2 and 3 City Council candidates were organized by SooToday, Algoma University and Shaw TV.

Incumbent Judy Hupponen also didn't participate in tonight's Ward 3 debate and no mention was made of her absence.

One of the highlights of the Ward 1 debate was incumbent Sandra Hollingsworth's proposal that council hold regular public-input sessions so ordinary citizens can be heard.

"I'd like to see our regular council meetings changed so the public can be more involved," Hollingsworth said.

She called for question-and-answer periods allowing members of the public to ask questions.

"If not at every council meeting, at least quarterly," she said.

Hollingsworth also suggested that two city councillors serve on the agenda-setting committee, deciding which matters are discussed by City Council.

Further, she was strongly critical of municipal public-input sessions being hosted at the Civic Centre.

"I absolutely hate to have open houses at City Hall," Hollingsworth said.

"Go out to the public. Go to the John Rhodes [Community Centre]. Go to the Greyhound games. Go to Station Mall. Be more open."

In the Ward 3 debate, challenger Donna Hilsinger proposed a novel approach to attracting young people to Sault Ste. Marie and keeping more locals here after graduation:

"I think it could be interesting to try something like a concierge service," she said.

"I borrow that term from the hospitality industry. Even young people, they might not be married but they have partners or spouses that they want to move with them. A concierge service could assist each member of that family in gaining employment."

In the Ward 1 debate, incumbent Paul Christian warned about candidates who promise to cut taxes.

"To simply say that you're going to reduce taxes over the next four years is a little misleading because 43 per cent of our levy is uncontrollable. There's outside organizations that we have zero control over. We have labour contracts with police and fire that add two million dollars a year to our budget," Christian said.

"Clearly we have to work hard to keep taxes down. We need to be competitive. We need to be fair. But we also have to be realistic.... To simply say that we're going to keep taxes with zero per cent increase is somewhat disingenuous or else you simply don't understand the way the tax system works in Sault Ste. Marie."

Ward 1 rival Don Mitchell disagreed. "I make a promise I will not vote for any tax increase," Mitchell said.

With 17 candidates in three wards debating for three hours, no news article written in time for our deadline could do justice to all the ideas and positions presented.

SooToday encourages our readers to view the full debates at the following links:

Ward 1

Ward 2

Ward 3

Debates for Wards 4 and 5 and mayoral candidates take place on Thursday, Oct. 11 starting at 6 p.m. at Algoma University's Shingwauk Auditorium.

The 2018 municipal election takes place Monday, Oct. 22.

The following is a full list of candidates:

Mayor