Municipal election campaign officially begins Friday

Cathy Dobson/The Independent

As Sarnia’s municipal election campaign officially kicks off Friday afternoon, the mayoral race is already mired in accusations and personal attacks.

Chrissy McRoberts’ withdrawal from the mayoral race and her endorsement of candidate Carrie McEachran Aug. 20, was immediately followed by a social media post from Bill Dennis accusing McRoberts of accepting payment from McEachran.

Both McRoberts and McEachran flatly deny the accusation.

“It’s absolutely untrue,” said McRoberts. “It’s manipulative.

“You can try as hard as you want to belittle other candidates, but it does not make you the best person for the position,” she said. “That behavior and lying outright is exactly as it has been for the last three-and-a-half years.”

Dennis said “a very reliable source” who he would not name, informed him that McRoberts received money from McEachran to pay for campaign signs.

“I have reason to believe the McEachran camp or a third party made an offer to reimburse (McRoberts) for the cost of her signs and to pay for new signs,” Dennis told The Independent after posting the same opinion on social media.

McRoberts has withdrawn from the mayor’s race and is running instead for a city/county seat, the same position she has held for the last four years.

Dennis said he doesn’t think accepting payment from another candidate for campaign signage is either illegal or unethical.

“But I think it shows a lack of integrity to her supporters.” 

Dennis said he could not produce any proof that his assertion was true and he chose not to divulge his source.

McEachran said there is no truth to it.

“I did not offer Chrissy McRobert’s any money, nor did I offer to pay for election signage or anything else in exchange for her withdrawing from the mayoral race,” McEachran wrote in response to The Independent’s inquiry.

“The allegation that I paid or offered to pay her to withdraw is completely false.”

McEachran said she respects every candidate’s right to make their own decision about their campaign and their future.

“Chrissy made her decision independently, and I was honoured by her decision to endorse my campaign and encourage her supporters to support me,” she wrote, adding that she will not allow “false accusations to distract from the issues that matter to the people of Sarnia.”

McRoberts jumped into the mayoral race early, submitting her nomination papers on May 1, the same day Dennis filed. But this week, a day before the nominations cutoff, she said she learned that a sixth candidate intended to file and made her decision to withdraw.

“With six of us running for mayor, I believed the vote would be split too much and someone who is not the best person for the job could win,” said McRoberts.

A sixth candidate had not joined the race as of Thursday night, however, candidates have until 2 p.m. Friday to file their nomination papers at city hall.

McRoberts said serving on council for the last term with Dennis was challenging because of his outbursts and “abusive behaviour.”

“I love Sarnia and I don’t want a dark cloud over our city,” she said. “Childish behaviour scares business away.  

“I’d rather talk about solutions to the social problems we face and the issues that really need attention, like supporting business and industry.”

McRoberts said she intends to buy stickers for her mayoral campaign signs to inexpensively switch them for the city/county councillors race. 

“And that will be paid by me and me alone,” she said.

The mayoral candidates in Sarnia as of 9 p.m. Thursday are Dennis, McEachran, businessman Scott Molson and engineer George Stanko.