Five questions with Doug Herrington, Ward 3 – Murray candidate for Quinte West council in the 2026 municipal election

Editor’s note: To help voters to be better informed, Quinteist will be asking the same five questions of all council candidates in Belleville, Quinte West and Prince Edward County in advance of the municipal election, which will be held on Monday, Oct. 26, 2026. Questions were sent to all candidates on Sept. 10, 2026. We will publish their responses as we receive them. Below are the responses from Ward 3 – Murray Ward candidate Doug Herrington. You can view a roundup of all our Quinte West municipal coverage and links to all completed profiles here.

1. Tell us a little bit about your professional background, including any prior municipal or other political participation, as well as about you, personally. What made you want to run for council?

I have worked in construction most of my life with a local company. I operate heavy equipment, and I can operate a dump truck as well. We have worked installing water and sewer mains, water and sewer services to home owners and building roads. I also operate a snow plow and sander in winter. I always wanted to run and ran the last election. I want to make a difference in my community.

2. How would you describe your personal political ideology and/or affiliation?

I have no political ideology. I have voted both ways in federal politics while provincial mainly Conservative. I look at not who’s helping me the most, but who is hurting me the least when i vote.

3. What are the three most common issues voters bring up to you as you campaign?

I think the most common issues are the same for everybody. The first is affordability. Our taxes keep increasing and our services are decreasing, or we don’t get them at all. Another one is accountability. When council makes big mistakes, it’s seem like they say, “oh well we will just raise taxes to pay for our mistakes,” or they make other bad decisions knowing that there will be no repercussions.

4. What three issues are most pressing/important to address locally in your opinion?

In my opinion, affordability is the main one. When you live in a rural ward you should pay less taxes than a city ward. The services you do receive are cheaper. How do you do a budget when two thirds of the whole city is rural and has vastly different needs than an urban area?

Another one is wasteful spending. How many times do we have to fix something before doing it right?

I would also like to see Trenton become relevant again. Most of us remember the ’70s and ’80s when we had a vibrant downtown. Now, the lights go out by 9 p.m.. I know its a different era, but things have got to change. We have no waterfront and with our growing population the waterfront should be booming with restaurants and shops. We cannot develop by the marina as we don’t own the land, which is ridiculous. We need to clean it up to. We can cut down all those old trees along the river to the train bridge and spruce it up with new ones.

We also need to be looking at the Murray Canal bridge. With the federal government on a build Canada agenda we should be all over this.

5. What do you feel sets you apart from other candidates?

I think what sets me apart from the rest is that I’ve lived in Murray for almost 40 years.

With all the new growth in Murray, we need somebody that looks out for our interests, and not just be after a tax grab for the rest of the city. I also believe in common sense and i think that has been lacking with councils decisions.