Dear editor:

There is a clear, historical pattern in Niagara-on-the-Lake: when residents are satisfied with the town’s direction, voter turnout drops. Unfortunately, when we become complacent, we pay a heavy price. Tracing our recent municipal timeline reveals exactly how we arrived at our current situation.

In 2018, the community experienced a collective wake-up call. Disappointed with a lack of transparency and a perception of backroom politics, residents turned out in historic numbers. A robust 58 per cent voter turnout (8,304 ballots cast) swept in a new council led by Betty Disero.

This ushered in the “comfortable pew” era from 2018 to 2022. Under that leadership, municipal affairs ran smoothly, residents felt protected from out-of-scale development and general satisfaction was high. However, security bred complacency.

Believing our town’s character was secure, more than half of the electorate sat out the 2022 municipal election. Turnout plummeted to under 48 per cent (only 7,644 ballots cast). This drop-off allowed a specific, tightly aligned group of politicians to take complete control of town chambers.

Between 2024 and 2026, we saw a distinct return to secrecy and block voting, effectively shutting out public input while greenlighting rapid developments. Here is just a few of what this low turnout cost us:

Soaring property taxes: Residents faced a massive 6.75 per cent town property tax increase in 2024, immediately following an 8.39 per cent hike in 2023, driven primarily by internal hiring and expanding payrolls.

The $1-million closed-door settlement: Council signed off on a $1,000,000 legal settlement to developer Rainer Hummel behind closed doors to resolve municipal blunders, without an open court ever ordering that price.

The Heritage Trail right-of-way: Council secretly voted to hand over a right-of-way to a private mega-developer directly across the Upper Canada Heritage Trail — a space residents spent their own money and volunteer hours restoring. Council only relented after furious public outcry.

The administrative gag order: Strict directives were issued to block staff from answering public information requests from any resident suspected of using municipal data for critical commentary or advocacy.

Now, we are fully immersed in the 2026 election cycle, and the comfortable pew has been completely smashed. The soaring taxes, corporate-style gag orders and aggressive development approvals have proven that we cannot afford to stay home.

We do not just need a casual showing at the polls this year; we need a historic turnout to restore civic accountability. NOTL requires leadership that is strictly detached from legacy decisions, completely independent of corporate conflicts and fully committed to protecting tax dollars and infrastructure.

I urge every resident to attend the upcoming candidate debates across our local villages and bring tough questions. It is time to leave complacency behind and vote for a full-time, independent council.

Judith Barnes
NOTL