Lucas Cleveland Re-elected as Mayor

John Draper

The vote in Cobourg split 46% to Lucas, 39% to Nicole Beatty and 15% to Max LeMarchant. Adam Bureau won his bid for Deputy Mayor with 53% of the vote.  Council will see three new faces and two veterans – see details below.  Results in other towns in the County resulted in four new mayors and three returning.  Notably Brian Ostrander was re-elected in Brighton and Todd Attridge will replace Olena Hankivsky in Port Hope. There will be a new Warden for Northumberland County.  It’s clear that voters wanted a change but still wanted some degree of continuity and some individuals.  The turnout was good at 51.1% of eligible voters. That compares to 40.9% in 2022. The number of ballots… Read complete articleLucas Cleveland Re-elected as Mayor

Proposed 202 Second Street Development Appealed to OLT

John Draper

In 2025, Fotenn Planning and Design, acting on behalf of developer Dez Capital, submitted a request for changes to the zoning and Official Plan at 202 Second Street to permit a 9 storey development. The request was later modified to 8 storeys and Planning staff recommended approval based on Provincial guidelines. But many on Council and in the public criticized this large building as not being in keeping with the adjacent Town Hall so no approval was given. However, there was concern that the developer would appeal to the Ontario Lands Tribunal (OLT) so in September 2026, Council passed an ICBL (Interim Control Bylaw) which is intended to pause any approvals for construction in designated areas including 202 Second Street. Despite this, the developer… Read complete articleProposed 202 Second Street Development Appealed to OLT

Police and Town Urged to Work Together on Financial Irregularities

John Draper

The Special Council meeting on Tuesday stirred up a whole lot of emotion but although everyone seemed to know that there were – at a minimum – “irregularities” in both the Police and Town’s finances and although there was talk about it being addressed, I did not hear any details of the irregularities nor any specific actions to remedy the issues. But the four motions to uncover the problems were instead replaced by two new motions – by Adam Bureau and Nicole Beatty. These essentially say that the problems will be worked on “diligently”. Both the Police Chief and CAO spoke calmly about the situation but Nicole and Adam in particular got quite heated. This Post will leave opinion and criticism to commenters and… Read complete articlePolice and Town Urged to Work Together on Financial Irregularities

Police Finances being Scrutinized

John Draper

The Mayor has called a special meeting on October 13 to discuss multiple proposed motions dealing with concerns about the  Police Finances/budget. Presumably in response to that, the Police Board issued a statement today (Thanksgiving Sunday) defending their accountability and transparency. The agenda of the Town’s meeting includes four long motions asking for answers from the Police Board, the Town Clerk and the Treasurer while the Police statement lists actions already taken to review the budget. The concerns include financial statements pointing to problems that have not been made public, some reports that were not provided and an expected budget over-run of $2M this year. Although few details are provided, it seems that actions by the former treasurer and the… Read complete articlePolice Finances being Scrutinized

Cobourg Police Deputy Chief Selected

John Draper

Police Chief Paul Vandegraaf announced his retirement in December 2025 to take effect in June then in January 2026, Cobourg’s Deputy Chief of Police Jeff Haskins announced his retirement effective August.  First a search was made for a new Chief with the result that Chief Chris Leather was hired and started on June 1.  First reports of Chief Leather compliment him on his apparent crack down on illegal drug use in Public. But then a search was started for a replacement Deputy Chief and today, Cobourg Police announced the hiring of Tina Maier as the new Deputy Chief starting November 2. Tina is currently serving as a Superintendent with the OPP at Queens Park (see full announcement for details). Tina is highly… Read complete articleCobourg Police Deputy Chief Selected

Mayor Cleveland Moved to Get Hidden Financial reports

John Draper

At the last scheduled Council Meeting for the current term on 23 September, Mayor Cleveland managed to get a motion passed that Staff explain earlier reports from Closed Council sessions that talked about major problems with the Town’s finances – e.g. a shortage of reserves of $20.5 million and a lack of audited statements for 2024 and 2025. Lucas says that this problem was stated in reports presented in closed session and he wants these reports made available before the upcoming election since they reflect on the performance of Councillors over the past 10 years. During the meeting, Lucas said he would publish the reports anyway (if necessary) even if that meant breaking the “code of conduct” so that the… Read complete articleMayor Cleveland Moved to Get Hidden Financial reports

Lucas Cleveland launches his campaign

John Draper

As promised during his campaign launch on Sunday, the updated website of Lucas Cleveland is now online – so he has now published his platform.  It’s a mix of pointing to accomplishments and a promise to “deliver changes that will allow Cobourg to be set up for a great future”. Although I have provided a summary below based on headings, the web site has a lot more details. Perhaps the best overall summary would be what Lucas has described as “My View” with these headings: “Good intentions don’t create safe streets; You might not always like my style, Vote for my results; I take on the fight nobody wants but Cobourg needs”. Overview Standing up for Cobourg always: I am entering… Read complete articleLucas Cleveland launches his campaign

Beatty Announces Plans for Her First 100 Days as Mayor

John Draper

The Campaigns for Mayor are intensifying: incumbent Mayor Lucas Cleveland will launch his campaign at an event in Victoria Park on Sunday September 13 and Nicole Beatty has released a detailed 12 point plan of her actions in her first 100 days as Mayor. Included in Nicole’s plan are promises to delegate strong mayor powers, form citizen committees to advise on the budget, safety, arts and economic development as well as re-instating the Planning and Development Committee. Many of these will need authorization from other Councillors but there do not seem to be any significant costs associated with the actions. She recognizes that “this is an ambitious agenda for the first 100 days, and that is intentional. Cobourg needs a… Read complete articleBeatty Announces Plans for Her First 100 Days as Mayor

Citizen Publishes Guide to Election Candidates

John Draper

Cobourg Citizen David Toulmin has obviously spent a good amount of time researching all the Candidates in the coming election and he has now published his findings in a “Candidates Guide”.  His sources are given and are generally web sites but also include responses by candidates to his leading questions.  His document has 43 pages (using a small font) and covers candidates’ background (Cobourg connection / time here, Community involvement, Professional background, Current work / business, Documented local involvement), positions on six key issues, election history and answers to David’s questions.  A quick Internet search found that David is active in the community and appears to be a retired Sales Manager in the Electronics Industry. You can download David’s complete… Read complete articleCitizen Publishes Guide to Election Candidates