By Michael Bennett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Ridgetown Independent News

It was no surprise that Michael Bondy announced his candidacy for the mayor’s office on the first day of nominations for the Oct. 26 Municipal Election.

Bondy made news in January 2025 when he said he would be throwing his hat into the mayor’s race.

At the time, he said that although Mayor Darrin Canniff “has done a fine job,” it was time for a change.

Fifteen months later, Bondy’s stance for a change at the top is unchanged.

“The main reason, I think, as a local government, we’ve lost the trust of the people,” said Bondy, who is the longest tenured councillor in consecutive terms since first being elected in 2010. “We’ve done things in this term without enough public engagement and feedback – things like the Hub, the anaerobic digester, the OHL and potential arena.”

While he was originally in favour of the Chatham-Kent Hub, Bondy changed his tune midway through the process, growing leery of the costs of renovating the current Civic Centre versus building the former Sears building.

“We’re drifting away from our core services,” he continued about his reasons to run for mayor. “We’re going for big, flashy things. I think we should just get back to the general basics of local governance … fix the roads, dust suppressant, take care of the arenas, libraries and museums.”

Bondy said it’s also time to re-examine the structure of the municipal government.

“I think our departmental structure is flawed … but we never look at it,” Bondy said. “Our biggest, by far, expense is personnel, but we never touch them.”

“We’ll spend two hours debating whether we should paint the bottom of a pool, but we never look at the structure of the actual corporation,” he said. “I think it’s important we take a different approach to the budget, which is the most important thing we do, but far.”

Bondy has been consistent during his four terms, voting against tax increases, as the only budget he approved was the 0% hike in 2015.

When Bondy first announced his run for mayor 15 months ago, de-amalgamation was a key point as it came at a time when petitions were circulating in the Bothwell-Zone, Blenheim-Ridgetown and Tilbury areas asking the province to be allowed to leave Chatham-Kent’s jurisdiction.

“The province is never going to let that happen,” Bondy admitted about de-amalgamation.

However, Bondy said he will explore establishing community councils throughout Chatham-Kent that would have no authority but could advise council on key issues, especially in rural areas.

It was Bondy’s motion to reinstate partial dust suppression on key gravel roads late last summer, after council originally voted to eliminate the process as a $1.38-million cost-saving measure in the 2025 budget.

Bondy said listening to the concerns about the dust suppressant opened his eyes to the needs of rural citizens.

“I knew there was a rural-urban divide, but I didn’t realize what it entailed,” Bondy said. “I found there was little cooperation. We need more rural engagement with the urban (councillors).”

He said councillors – including himself – have to learn more about the communities around Chatham-Kent.

“The needs and policies between Wheatley and Bothwell are about as far apart as Toronto and … North Bay,” Bondy said. “We have to do something to bridge these gaps.”

Bondy said his platform will focus not only on shifting municipal priorities but also on delivering true transparency in all dealings.

“Too much staff time and tax revenue have been spent on initiatives that have no positive impact on the lives of our taxpayers,” Bondy said. “I don’t just want to help the taxpayers’ wallets, I want to improve the quality of life for the silent majority that has put its trust in Council to spend wisely and prudently.”

With Bondy and West Kent’s Lauren Anderson both running for mayor, there will be at least six new councillors among the 14 representatives for the 2026-30 term, as the council’s size has been reduced from 17 to 14 members.

East Kent’s John Wright, South Kent’s Trevor Thompson, North Kent’s Jamie McGrail, Wallaceburg’s Carmen McGregor and Aaron Hall have all announced they will not be seeking re-election.

Ward 3’s Morena McDonald, Ward 2’s Anthony Ceccacci and Ryan Doyle have not announced their intentions of seeking re-election.

Three current councillors have filed papers to run in the October election – Alysson Storey in the new Northwest Chatham Ward 6, Amy Finn in the new Northeast Chatham Ward 7 and Rhonda Jubenville in the new Northwest Kent Ward 4.

Nelson Burm, a farmer from North Kent, is the third mayoral candidate.