Meet the candidates: Virgil Hammock, running in Ward 3 (Central Sackville)
Virgil Hammock has lived in Sackville for nearly 50 years, teaching at Mount Allison University for almost 30 of those years. He previously served on Sackville town council from 1999 and 2012 and has held positions on the Southeast Regional Health Authority board and planning commission.
Listen to CHMA’s Meet The Candidates interview with Virgil Hammock, which took place at his home in downtown Sackville on November 10, 2022.
Hammock is running for Ward 3, where residents will elect four councillors from a pool of nine candidates, including Hammock, Bruce Phinney, Michael Tower, Allison Butcher, Alice Cotton, Sahitya Pendurthi, Josh Goguen, Charles Harvey, and Sana Mohammed. All candidates have interviews on CHMA, except for Charles Harvey who declined, and Sana Mohammed, who did not respond.
CHMA is compiling all its election coverage in one place, for your convenience. For more candidate interviews and other local elections coverage, click here.
TRANSCRIPT: Interview with Virgil Hammock, November 10, 2022
CHMA: Virgil Hammock. Thanks for taking some time to speak with us.
Virgil Hammock: My pleasure, Erica.
CHMA: Just to start off, for people who might not already know you, tell us a bit about yourself?
Virgil Hammock: Well, my name is, as you say, Virgil Hammock. I’ve lived in Sackville for 47 years. I taught at Mount A for 29 years, and 19 of those years as head of the Fine Arts department.… Continue
Meet the candidates: Bruce Phinney, running in Ward 3 (Central Sackville)
Sackville town councillor Bruce Phinney was born in Sackville into a military family. They lived in Germany and Nova Scotia before settling in Oromocto in 1962. After returning to Sackville in 1977, he began a career spanning four decades in facilities management at Mount Allison University.
Listen to CHMA’s Meet The Candidates interview with Bruce Phinney, which took place at CHMA studios on November 15, 2022.
Phinney is running for Ward 3, where residents will elect four councillors from a pool of nine candidates, including Phinney, Michael Tower, Allison Butcher, Virgil Hammock, Alice Cotton, Sahitya Pendurthi, Josh Goguen, Charles Harvey, and Sana Mohammed. All candidates have interviews on CHMA, except for Charles Harvey who declined, and Sana Mohammed, who hasn’t responded to an interview request.
CHMA is compiling all its election coverage in one place, for your convenience. For more candidate interviews and other local elections coverage, click here.
TRANSCRIPT, Bruce Phinney November 15, 2022
CHMA: Bruce Phinney, thank you so much for joining us today.
Bruce Phinney: My pleasure, Erica.
CHMA: For those who might not already know you, tell us a bit about yourself.
Bruce Phinney: I was born in Sackville in 1955. That makes me 67. I grew up in Oromocto—my father was in the military. Then I moved here to Sackville in 1977, and in 1978, I started working for [Mount Allison University]. I worked for the University for 42 and a half years.… Continue
Meet the candidates: Allison Butcher, running in Ward 3 (Central Sackville)
Allison Butcher was born and raised in Sackville and lived in Ottawa before returning to her hometown in 1998. She’s the mother of two teenage daughters, and for the past 20 years she has worked as a pre-school teacher. She’s been involved in municipal politics since 2016 and is currently in her second term as councillor.
Listen to CHMA’s Meet The Candidates interview with Allison Butcher, which took place by phone on November 9, 2022.
She is running in Ward 3, where residents will elect four councillors from a pool of nine candidates.
Along with Butcher, those candidates include Michael Tower, Alice Cotton, Josh Goguen, Virgil Hammock, Charles Harvey, Sana Mohamad, Saditya Pendurthi and Bruce Phinney. CHMA has interviewed all of them except for Charles Harvey, who declined an interview request, and Sana Mohamad, as we’re awaiting a response from that candidate.
CHMA is compiling all its election coverage in one place, for your convenience. For more candidate interviews and other local elections coverage, click here.
TRANSCRIPT Allison Butcher, Nov. 9, 2022:
CHMA: Allison Butcher, thanks so much for taking the time to speak with us.
AB: Thank you.
CHMA: So for those who might not already know you, tell us a bit about yourself.
AB: So I’m Allison Butcher, I live in Sackville, and what will be Ward 3. I am a preschool teacher here in town and have been for about 20 years now.… Continue
Meet the candidates: Michael Tower, running in Ward 3 (Central Sackville)
Michael Tower was born and raised in Sackville. He lived in Dorchester for seven years as he started to raise a family, before returning to his hometown. For nearly 50 years, he worked at the liquor store, seven of those years as a manager. He’s also a longtime member of Sackville town council, currently serving his fourth term
Listen to CHMA’s Meet The Candidates interview with Michael Tower, which took place at CHMA studios on November 9, 2022.
Tower is running for Ward 3, where residents will elect four councillors from a pool of nine candidates.
Along with Tower, those candidates include Allison Butcher, Alice Cotton, Josh Goguen, Virgil Hammock, Charles Harvey, Sana Mohamad, Saditya Pendurthi and Bruce Phinney. CHMA has interviewed all of them except for Charles Harvey, who declined an interview request, and Sana Mohamad, as we’re awaiting a response from that candidate.
CHMA is compiling all its election coverage in one place, for your convenience. For more candidate interviews and other local elections coverage, click here.
TRANSCRIPT. Interview with Michael Tower, November 9, 2022.
CHMA: So for those who might not already know you, tell us a bit about yourself.
Michael Tower: Well, I was born and raised in Sackville, and lived in Dorchester for seven years as I started raising my family and moved back to Sackville. But worked at the liquor store for 47 years, seven years as a manager.… Continue
Meet the candidates: Wendy Epworth, running in Ward 2 (West Sackville-Rockport)
Wendy Epworth was born in Sackville and works for Fort Folly Habitat Recovery, protecting endangered Atlantic salmon. Epworth and her husband Dave also owned and operated Mel’s Tea Room throughout the pandemic, unfortunately closing it down earlier this year. Epworth says Ward 2 and other areas outside of current Sackville town limits will need to have a voice at the table in the new municipality, especially with potential increases in tax rates imminent. She’s concerned with economic development in the area, as well as preparing for the effects of climate change, including making sure West Sackville does not get cut off from emergency services during extreme weather events.
Listen to CHMA’s Meet The Candidates interview with Wendy Epworth, which took place by phone on November 8, 2022.
CHMA is compiling all its election coverage in one place, for your convenience. For more candidate interviews and other local elections coverage, click here.… Continue
Meet the candidates: Barry Hicks, running in Ward 2 (West Sackville-Rockport)
Barry Hicks is a native of the British Settlement-Westcock area, and worked for the town of Sackville for 40 years in the public works department, first as a heavy equipment operator, and then as superintendent of public works. Hicks says he’s racked up experience working with a number of mayors and councils over the years, and is hoping to represent the concerns of Ward 2 as the whole region goes through the growing pains associated with becoming the new town of Tantramar.
Listen to CHMA’s Meet The Candidates interview with Barry Hicks, which took place by phone on November 14, 2022.
CHMA is compiling all its election coverage in one place, for your convenience. For more candidate interviews and other local elections coverage, click here.
TRANSCRIPT to come… Continue
Mystery elections flyer which broke rules likely came from department of local government
Elections NB didn’t send it, the town of Sackville didn’t send it… so the question is, who sent an elections flyer to addresses all over the new Tantramar municipality? While the Department of Local Government refuses to answer that question, a complaint to the New Brunswick RCMP by Elections NB may lead to an answer.
The mailer certainly appears to be a well-intentioned, if not by-the-book, correction for an earlier mistake by Elections NB. Early in October, residents in Tantramar received notices from the provincial elections agency telling them they would NOT be voting in municipal elections on November 28. That was, of course, an error, and a big one.
A mix up by a contractor handling the mail out of important election information for Elections NB meant that about 260,000 households got exactly the opposite message they should have received. The reality is, all residents of the former town of Sackville, village of Dorchester, and parts of the Dorchester, Sackville and Point de Bute local service districts, can go to the polls by November 28 to elect the first ever mayor and council for the newly amalgamated town of Tantramar.
Elections NB immediately acknowledged their mistake, but also said that a corrected mailer to the homes in question would not be forthcoming, in part due to supply chain issues.… Continue
Meet the candidates: Natalie Donaher, running in Ward 2 (West Sackville-Rockport)
Natalie Donaher is originally from Moncton, earned a degree at Mount Allison, and now works in the science department at the university. She and her partner returned to Sackville in 2009, buying an older home in Wood Point. The support of her community made a positive impression on Donaher last year after experiencing a fire on her property. Before that, Donaher was involved with the advisory committee in the former Sackville local service district, and she was part of the mass resignation by committee members over frustrations at the lack of power they held with provincial officials. She points to the housing crisis and extreme climate impacts such as flooding and power outages as two areas where the new municipality can make an impact.
Listen to CHMA’s Meet The Candidates interview with Natalie Donaher, which took place November 7, 2022, at CHMA studios:
CHMA is compiling all its election coverage in one place, for your convenience. For more candidate interviews and other local elections coverage, click here.
TRANSCRIPT to come… Continue
Meet the candidates: Kevin Scott, running in Ward 2 (West Sackville-Rockport)
Kevin Scott is originally from Baie Verte, and moved to Sackville in 2008 when he started working at Moneris, later moving to Cannabis NB. Scott has been a volunteer firefighter for years, at Port Elgin, Sackville, and now the Point de Bute fire department. Scott says he has a voice, and he’s not afraid to use it, but also stresses that he’s interested in representing the concerns of people in Ward 2 and Tantramar. He is hoping he can keep a focus on health and safety issues such as emergency response service, and also on economic issues such as keeping and attracting new jobs to the Tantramar area.
Listen to CHMA’s Meet The Candidates interview with Kevin Scott, which took place November 10, 2022, at CHMA studios:
CHMA is compiling all its election coverage in one place, for your convenience. For more candidate interviews and other local elections coverage, click here.
TRANSCRIPT: to come… Continue
Listen for yourself: All-Candidates Forum features 19 of 21 candidates for Tantramar council
About 120 people gathered in the gym at the Church by the Lake on Saturday night to hear from candidates in the first ever election for the new municipality of Tantramar. The event was organized by a committee led by Sackville resident Carol Cooke, who served as moderator for the evening.
CHMA broadcast the forum live, and we’ve also put together the recording of the event in four parts for anyone who missed the live broadcast.
CHMA has offered introductory interviews to all candidates in this election, and you can check them out, along with other election coverage in our Local Elections 2022 page.
Tantramar All-Candidates Forum part 1: Opening remarks
Tantramar All-Candidates Forum part 2: Moderator question
What do you see as the single, biggest challenge facing the new Town of Tantramar?
