Tay Valley Reeve Candidates
Roxanne Darling
Roxanne Darling has a very long history in municipal politics going back to when she was involved with the former Bedford township in the 1990’s and the amalgamation process that led to the establishment of South Frontenac.
Moving to another part of Bobs Lake brought her into what had become Tay Valley, and she served as a councillor in Tay Valley for four terms between 2006 and 2022, and then ran for Reeve in 2022 against Rob Rainer. Rainer won that election by 268 votes, leaving her off council for the first time in many years.
“That hurt my poor little heart. Being on council was part of who I was. But I got over it, and enjoyed the extra time,” she said.
Over the last couple of years, she has been working for an organisation called Ginawaydaganuc as the community engagement officer. Ginawaydaganuc is inspired by the memory of Algonquin Elder William Commanda, and is working on developing a “sustainable learning pavilion and eco-tourism and education centre, with a traditional Indigenous Elders' Teaching Lodge at its core” in the vicinity of Almonte.
She said that this work, which is new to her after running a lodge and doing planning earlier in her work life, has also shown her something about governance.
The feeling created in a meeting that starts with a prayer of thanksgiving and is held in a circle is not the same as a township council. But it has made me reflect on the way I felt about council in my first few terms.
“For the first 12 years I was on council, at the end of the term I was feeling very proud when we left the council chamber. But during my last term of council, we seemed to butt heads more. There were a lot of 4-4 votes. I want that ‘working together’ relationship again. I want the old vibe back.”
She said that she thought long and hard before deciding to run this time, and was swayed by the feeling that she has something to offer the township because of her experience, and that she can bring back some accountability to council.
“I have not been at the table for four years, and I can’t criticize decisions that were made that were based on information that I don’t have,” she said, “but I know there are up to 12 active legal cases going on in Tay Valley Township and that is a lot.”
She has talked about creating a cooperative council with Deputy Reeve candidate Frank Johnson and over the nomination period she encouraged other candidates to run.
“It is not slate, it isn’t like there is any plan to vote the same way on all matters or anything like that, but there are some common concerns, and a willingness to create an open environment for the public to address council.
“We want accountability. We want the people back, and give their voice to council. It kind of grew organically,” she said.
One of the issues she has seen come to the public over the last term of council.
has been the matter of a number of unassumed roads in the township, a hangover from failed Plan of Subdivision process in the pre-amalgamation days, which has left the township with ownership of 21 roads (now reduced to 15) that are in varying states of repair.
A township proposal called for property owners living on those roads to provide proof of insurance for their road when seeking a building permit, even though the township owns the land the roads were built on. The proposal was overturned after an appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal, but she is surprised it was ever contemplated.
“It is like if I asked someone to ensure my car for me. Why would they do that?’ she said.
Since she left council strong mayor powers, which apply equally to Reeves (which have the identical role to that of a Mayor) have been instituted by the province.
“I oppose strong mayor powers, but they are not optional. If I am elected, I will have them. I would do the same as the current Reeve has done, return the powers that are optional, and defer certain powers to council and staff.”
She said that other townships put out a survey to all residents to see what they recommend for the budget, and thinks that is a great idea. She would also look to bring more working groups on issues, including short term rentals, which are not regulated in Tay Valley.
Marilyn Thomas
Marilyn Thomas decided to take a leap forward and is running for Reeve after serving one term on council as a councillor from Bathurst ward.
She has long roots in the township. She was born at Perth hospital and has spent most of her life in Tay Valley. With her partner Brian, she lives near Brooke Valley. She works for the Perth and Smith's Falls Hospital foundation, will alter her work obligations if elected as Reeve to reflect the time commitment that will required at the township and county level.
She said that her initial motivation to run for council stemmed, in part, from her lifelong interest in politics, at all levels, and with her kids being grown up, and encouraging her to run, she ran and won in 2022.
It has been a learning experience.
“Even though you follow politics you don’t know what’s behind the scenes. There are so many layers of regulations and rules and costs behind every initiative in the township, and every decision that council makes that you don't see at a council meeting,” she said.
She said that the current council was elected to deal with a number of issues that had been left unaddressed by previous councils, and it was very productive in doing that work.
“Sometimes I went home happy with the results, and sometimes not, but with democracy you have to take it the way it is,” she said
Three major files that she mentioned were: unassumed roads, Blueberry Creek, and pay equity
“It was important to find a solution to all three. Pay equity had not been done since 2008. Why did it take so long I don't know, because it should have been done every three to five years. It ended up resulting in a hit to our budget, to put our staff to the medium of the scale compared to other municipalities. People talk about our CAO/Clerk's salary, but other municipalities pay for a CAO and a Clerk, so there is a pretty big net savings, having both roles covered by one person.”
On both of the other files, Blueberry Creek and Unassumed roads, the township was challenged in court (Blueberry Creek) or the Ontario Land Tribunal (Unassumed Roads) during the last term of council, and had to adjust accordingly.
She said that both of those issues took a lot of effort, and council acted to control the cost to taxpayers.
“What was the purpose of leaving these files open, as the previous councils did. It holds you back and you are not able to move forward,” she said.
As well as dealing with previous issues, this council was able to secure over $700,000 in grants for new projects, including upgrades to programming and infrastructure at the Maberly Hall, which is now a designated emergency centre.
“Having the satellite library service out of Maberly is a great benefit as well. We have been fortunate in Maberly that we were able to get these grants, and we hoped to be able to do the same in Burgess but without enough distance from Perth it is more difficult.”
Looking forward, promoting full time daycare services, is a priority for her.
“I am a great supporter of child care, one of the other things I want to get involved with, and working to get the daycare centre at Glen Tay, which currently offers before and after school care, to offer full day care for children and families, is a priority.”
Building on the construction of a small affordable housing project by a private developer in the Stanleyville area, she plans to put a housing working group of council together to look at ways for the township to support these kinds of projects, and larger ones.
“Providing opportunities for young families to find housing, recreation for their children, and whatever else we can provide or facilitate, is a priority for me. Serving the needs young families, and the retirement community, is important for this next council,” she said.
Although she is supportive of the candidacy of Deputy Reeve Greg Hallam, she said that she is ready to work with anyone who is elected to council.
“Democracy is democracy. I like to think my priorities are to provide services while being fiscally responsible is a reasonable way to go,” she said.
