Marvin Junkin jumped into the race for a seat in Pelham’s Ward 1 because he hates frivolous spending.
The retired North Pelham dairy farmer points to hiring a contractor to trim grass around hydro poles as an example of a small thing that shows a larger problem of excessive spending.
Junkin, 60, grew up in Pelham, attended Pelham District Secondary School and took over the family dairy farm in 1974.
When he retired from dairy farming two years ago, he was described as the town’s last one. Today on his cash crop farm, they grow corn, wheat, soybeans and hay.
It gives him more time to serve on council, he said.
Married to his wife Candice for 25 years, he has three sons Jeremy, Zachary and Isaac, and a daughter, Charlotte.
His son Zachary is running for mayor in this municipal election.
Junkin said the town council is out of touch with the public on such issues as the Maple Acre Library in Fenwick and increases in town staffing.
He questions the continuing construction of subdivisions in the town.
“How much development do we need in Pelham,” he said. He doesn’t see what it does for the people who live here.
For more than eight years, Junkin coached in the Pelham minor hockey system when his sons played. However, it doesn’t make him a fan of the new junior B hockey team, which has few Pelham players but takes up local ice time.
Design, construction and maintenance decisions, whether for the existing arena or for bricks in downtown sidewalks, raise questions of how they were reached, he said.
Junkin is one of three candidates seeking two seats in Ward 1. The others are Richard Rybiak and Jim Lane. Election day is Monday, Oct. 27. Junkin can be reached through his website, www.marvinjunkin.wordpress.com, or at 905-684-4870.
