The mayor of an eastern Ontario township whose council members have been mired in conflict says he’s not seeking another term, calling his time as leader both the best job he’s ever had, “and more recently the worst.”
Mayor Arie Hoogenboom of the Township of Rideau Lakes made the announcement in a statement sent out Monday. He pointed to a desire to reduce his workload, but also hinted at the fraught interpersonal dynamics around the council table.
“I have decided it is time to put my family and health first. Going forward, I will be encouraging the electorate to get out and vote in October,” according to Hoogenboom’s statement. “The current term clearly demonstrates the need for change, and we must elect members who have integrity, transparency, and common sense.”
Hoogenboom said having three different integrity commissioners and 31 integrity commissioner complaints — and the council being monitored by the province ever since a particularly fractious meeting last October — has made his leadership during the current term challenging.
Inside the messy rural council conflict the mayor says reflects dysfunction ‘beyond repair’
Hoogenboom has himself been the subject of complaints and was found to have breached the township’s code of conduct for, among other things, having overstepped when voting on punishments for other councillors deemed to have broken the code.
The mayor and two other councillors filed a lawsuit against all but one of the remaining members earlier this year. (It’s a long story.) That lawsuit remains active, Hoogenboom told CBC on Monday.
“Council has not made life easy for [staff],” he wrote in his statement. “Despite considerable staff turnover, we have been able to attract qualified, dedicated replacement staff.”
CBC reached out to the five councillors to ask if they had any comment.
“Nope,” said Ward 2 Coun. Jeff Banks via email.
Inside the messy rural council conflict the mayor says reflects dysfunction ‘beyond repair’
Inside the messy rural council conflict the mayor says reflects dysfunction ‘beyond repair’
The councillors have been divided over whether the township’s municipal building needs replacing. In his statement, Hoogenboom maintained there remains “a great need” for a new office.
Among a list of accomplishments during his time with the municipality — first as a councillor, then as a two-term mayor — Hoogenboom cited his use of strong mayor powers “to set aside questionable council decisions,” including some related to the ongoing township office debate.
He also called for a review of the size of the nine-member council, saying it is “much larger than many.”
In 2025, Hoogenboom supporter Joan Delaney resigned from council after serving on it for six and a half years. She told CBC at the time that she had grown dismayed as meetings began to stretch on for hours.
“They were full of arguments, full of controversy, and very tiring…. I just felt that we weren’t getting anywhere,” she said in March 2025.
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Delaney is one of eight people to declare their candidacy in the township’s fall election. She’s running for mayor, the only person so far to seek the seat that Hoogenboom described in his statement as “the best job I have ever had, and more recently the worst.”
Councillor Sue Dunfield is looking to keep her seat in Ward 1 (Bastard & South Burgess). So is Marcia Maxwell in Ward 2 (South Elmsley), where John McCormack is also looking to nab a seat.
No one has declared their candidacy for Ward 3 (South Crosby) yet, but four people (none of whom are incumbents) are eyeing Ward 4 (North Crosby-Newboro): Adam Ball, Clarence Donnelly, David Wickenden and John Fenik.
Each ward has two seats.
Voters go to the polls in Rideau Lakes and hundreds of other Ontario municipalities on Oct. 26.
