Municipal_election_10-40
Municipal Election - October 25, 2010
Mayoral Candidates
Ward 1, Kennebec
Ward 2, Olden
Ward 3, Oso
Ward 4, Hinchinbrooke
Mayoral Candidates
Janet Gutowski – committed to a vision of the future
When she moved to the township early in 2003, the only two people whom Janet Gutowski knew in Central Frontenac were her husband and her real estate agent.
Newly retired from customer service at Bell Canada in St. Catharines, and armed with some municipal experience as a councilor in Thorold, she put her name forward for council in Hinchinbrooke District that fall and beat the odds by winning a spot on council along with long-time councilor Bill Snyder.
Even before nominations opened for the 2006 municipal election, Gutowski announced that she intended to run for mayor, and she beat the long-time incumbent mayor, Bill MacDonald, in that 2006 election.
Gutowski comes into this 2010 mayoralty election after four years of sometimes difficult changes in the township. Within two months of taking office as head of council, her leadership was tested when two of the senior staff positions, CAO/clerk and public works manager, became vacant. Gutowski's council had to wait over two years before stability came to those positions.
“We were into the second half of our mandate before we were beyond putting out fires,” said Gutowski, “and we are now able to make some of the strategic decisions to move the township forward in a number of areas.”
Janet Gutowski has been one of the strongest boosters of Frontenac County over the past four years, particularly during her one-year term as county warden in 2009. “I really would like to see the implementation of the county’s “Green Vision”. I think it is a fantastic opportunity for us to make our mark,” she said.
The implementation of the Frontenac Integrated Community Sustainability Plan, and the work of the county’s Green Energy Task Force (promoting small scale municipal energy generation in all four Frontenac townships) and the Kingston-Frontenac New Energy Project, are all aspects of the green vision that Gutowski has been championing.
“We're getting it right,” has been Janet Gutowski's slogan during the three all-candidates’ meetings that have taken place thus far. “I'm very passionate about the area and the people here,” she said, “I think it is our time to shine. Because this area has not been overdeveloped we can now go forward with a strategy with respect to growth.
“I think we can revitalize the tourism industry in a more modern light though arts, culture, as well as the natural environment. We can take advantage of the retiring baby boomers, small home-based businesses, and I can see opportunities to begin hosting tourist groups and study groups interested in ecological living as we develop new facilities.”
Gutowski established and has chaired the Central Frontenac Economic Development Committee since she came on council, but she also looks to Frontenac County and the Community Futures Development Corporation for support in economic development efforts. “Our own township's budget for economic development was $1,500 last year. That's barely enough to set up one meeting in Toronto,” Gutowski told the audience at the all-candidates’ meeting in Arden last week, “so we obviously need to look more regionally to get things done.”
Gutowski would like to pay particular attention to the area of planning and the processes that an individual or developer has to go through to do any kind of building in Central Frontenac. Since she has been on council she has found that a number of projects that have come to the township have had difficulties negotiating the planning process.
“We are in the midst of amending our comprehensive zoning bylaw, and I have been pushing council to set up a task force in order to take a close look at every aspect of it,” she said, “but I have only one vote when it comes down to a decision by council.”
Gutowski has alluded on several occasions to her hope that she is re-elected she will have an easier time providing leadership to Central Frontenac Council. “If I can get a kind of buy-in from council in terms of the general direction we are headed in, then we can really start moving forward with strategic planning. An example of that kind of long-term thinking came at our council meeting last week. We passed a motion to set up a reserve for a new Parham fire hall,” she said.
Gutowski acknowledges that concerns about road construction and road maintenance are always on the minds of residents within the township, and she feels that with Public Works Manager Mike Richardson now in his second year on the job, many of the road maintenance issues that have been brought up repeatedly during the campaign are being addressed. But she insists that road issues are not as central to the township’s future as her rivals believe.
“You can just as easily leave the township on a nice paved road as you can enter it. We need more than good roads to attract people,” she said.
www.janetgutowski.ca
Douglas Lee - Rekindling a family legacy
Douglas Lee has never been involved in municipal politics thus far, but he has a family connection to municipal service, which is something that has motivated him to jump into this election campaign and run for mayor of Central Frontenac.
The Lees were one of the families who settled in the region in the 1800s. Douglas grew up on the family farm on St. Andrew's Lake, and he still lives in the same area.
He began working in the construction business when he was a young man, again following in a family tradition of working construction as well as farming.
He has stuck to the construction business, working as foreman in other companies and for himself as well, while his older brother Lloyd followed in their father's footsteps and became the reeve of Hinchinbrooke township, and later, a member of Central Frontenac Council for one term. The elder Lee, who just turned 91, was a member of Hinchinbrooke Council for 21 years, 14 of them as reeve.
For Douglas, it was a roofing accident 18 months ago that started the thought process that has led to his run for mayor. “I was immobile for six weeks, and during that time I had a chance to think about all the things I had not done,” he said.
One of those was to serve his community in the political realm, although he acknowledges that until now his political interests have been more on the provincial and federal levels rather than municipal.
Douglas considered seeking a Hinchinbrooke Council seat, but when Heather Fox declared her candidacy for council, he decided to run for mayor instead. Fox was the Hinchinbrooke Township clerk when Douglas' father and brother were reeves.
“Efficiency in operations” has been Lee's main watchword in business and he brings that attitude to township politics as well. The fact that Lee does not have municipal experience carries some advantages. “I have the advantage of being green,” he said. “I can go in and I can scrutinize everything, all the procedures carefully, and after a short time period I'm sure there are improvements that will follow.”
The roads crew, which is the largest workforce in the township, is most in need of scrutiny, from what Douglas Lee has been hearing. “Before amalgamation, each township had one superintendent and two or three members of the crew, and they did a really good job. Now I hear there are four or five overseers, and about a 16-member crew - about 21 people when there used to be 14 - and I don't see that things are well maintained. If elected, I will have a look at all this and, working with staff. I prefer to work with people, not over them. We will come up with efficiencies to make things run better and cheaper,” he said.
Seeking efficiencies does not necessarily mean a cut in staffing levels, according to Lee. “I'm not sure we need less staff in order to increase the efficiency and improve our roads substantially,” he said.
In terms of some of the hot button issues of this campaign, Douglas Lee has remained more or less out of the debates that have arisen at all-candidates’ meetings. He is not familiar with township/county politics, and with a number of legislative issues such as planning.
But, he says he has been through this kind of situation before in a number of businesses. “I pick things up really quick. Somebody can show me something in a new field, and I can understand and analyze it in a very short time. I bring that ability to this situation as well. I might drive everyone crazy for a month or two because I ask a lot of questions, but it won't take long for me to get up to speed on things,” he said.
The other factor is that he has an experienced person advising him.
“I consulted my father before I decided to run. If I didn't have him as my advisor I would not have entered the mayor's race before running for council. He provides me with a lot of insight and background,” Douglas Lee said.
Logan Murray – “We need to do it better”
“We need to do better” is what Logan Murray has been saying about the operations of Central Frontenac Township, a point of view that he compares to an idea that “We're getting it right”, which he ascribes to incumbent Mayor Janet Gutowski.
Murray registered for this election at the beginning of the year, and he has been knocking on doors throughout the township since the end of May.
“I've gone to literally thousands of doors,” he said. “People are telling me they are unhappy with the taxes and the roads, and their experience trying to communicate with the township is poor.”
To deal with the central issue of roads, and in particular road maintenance, Murray proposes to establish a citizen-driven road plan. He said he would bring together township staff, members of council, and members of the public to develop a plan for road construction and a maintenance schedule. He would put the proposed plan in front of the people in a series of public meetings.
“Once you have a plan, it's not rocket science to figure out whether the plan is progressing or is stalled. If it is progressing, you let it run; if it is stalled, you need to get it up and running again,” he said.
Logan Murray moved to his acreage on the Elm Tree Road almost 40 years ago, in 1972. Since then he has been a self-employed woodworker and he has built a recording studio as well. The bulk of his business is making custom kitchens. As he puts it, he makes money as a woodworker, and spends money in the music business.
He sat on council for one term in Kennebec Township days, and it turned out to be a pivotal time because the years were 1995-97, and the negotiations around the provincially-driven municipal amalgamation process were going on.
“There were tons and tons of meetings about amalgamation, and I was one of the few who were willing to stand up for the residents who were very wary about what was happening. In the end, the mayors started meeting on their own, and they made a deal, and that was it,” he said.
Murray ran for mayor of the newly constituted Central Frontenac in 1997, and lost to Bill MacDonald. He then ran for council in Kennebec ward in 2000 and lost again. In 2003, he was elected to council and served on term, still under Bill MacDonald, and in 2006 he lost out to Jeff Matson on Kennebec by a very slim margin, 2 votes.
Whether he has been on council, running for election, or watching from the sidelines, Murray says he has always received phone calls from people not only in Kennebec ward, but from all over the township with concerns about the way the township operates.
The state of the township’s waste management sites and the recycling programs also need major attention, according to Logan Murray.
“I don't think we've ever gotten a grip on that,” he said.
In terms of the economic future of the township, it comes down to bringing new people in. “Economic development in this township is all about putting people into houses.”
Road maintenance is key to that as well, he says, because “People won't buy or build houses on roads that are impassable,” Murray said.
“What we do have going for us is a beautiful region and cheap land. We can bring in people who are interested in small-scale farming, people interested in arts and culture. Keeping our schools open was key to that.”
In order to attract attention to the township, Logan Murray proposes having an annual fall event to showcase Central Frontenac.
“We would want to start something slowly, but over time if we could bring people to the township, even for a few hours, they would consider maybe retiring here, or opening a home based business. The main thing is getting the people involved in what is going on.”
He also proposes opening up council to public meetings on a regular basis, in order to ensure council does not get too isolated from the concerns of the population.
As far as the township’s relations with Frontenac County, Logan Murray harkens back to his memories of the amalgamation agreement, when the current township/county relationship was forged.
“We got rid of the county,” he said, “they kept it as the management board, and have been building it up from there, but the idea at the time was for decisions to be made locally, not at the county.”
While he said that he would still prefer to see the county eliminated, he adds that he knows that is not going to happen. “What we can do is move towards sensible governance. It does not make sense, for example, that the county owns the Fairmount Home and our ratepayers are on the hook for it. That whole sector should be under the direct control of the Ministry of Health.”
He opposes the current county-driven initiative to establish a regional roads system, and said if he were a member of county council, which he would be as Central Frontenac mayor, he would fight to release the federal gas tax rebate money that is proposed to be spent funding county-driven studies about future infrastructure spending.
Ward 1, Kennebec
Tom Dewey
Tom Dewey was born and raised on a farm near Croydon, a small community located south-west of Tamworth.
He worked in Toronto for 35 years as the Manager of Corporate Credit for Emerson Electric, and bought a cottage property on Horseshoe Lake, near Arden, 29 years ago.
There was a log cabin on the property and no hydro when the Deweys purchased it, and over the years they brought in hydro, fixed up the cabin and put an addition onto it.
The Deweys started living full time at their cabin in 2005, and a few months later Tom ran for council. He lost out that time around, and since then he has continued to be involved in the township by joining the Heritage Festival Committee, as well as the Economic Development Committee.
He is also a board member of the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation, which provides loans, grants, information and guidance to businesses in Frontenac County.
Although Tom Dewey is a supporter of the CFDC, his attitude towards Frontenac County is not as favourable.
“From what I've seen, I’m not sure that the townships are getting the best bang for the buck from the county,” he said.
One of the skills Dewey will bring to the township if elected is the ability to read budgets and compare expenses to budget. “We get that sort of thing every month at the CFDC and I find it useful,” he said.
He also thinks the township needs to do a better job on roads and waste.
“Some of the work being done on the roads is not up to standard. I looked at the Henderson Road recently, and folks were complaining that they had potholes as big as pie plates. They had complained to the roads foreman on previous occasion and nothing was done. Yesterday I was campaigning on Henderson Road and after nearly 3 weeks some of the potholes had been filled. This has to stop,” Dewey said.
Tom Dewey fell 85 votes short in the election campaign of 2005, but this time around he has been knocking on doors and he thinks that will make a difference.
“I think I have covered the area. I've made 400 to 500 contacts,” he said.
Jeff Matson
When Jeff Matson ran for council in 2005, the main reason was his concern about the roads and the spending the township did on them.
He comes by his interest in roads and in township politics honestly: both his father and grandfather served as councilor and reeve in Kennebec, and he also works in the roads construction business with his father.
He won the election in 2005 by only a few votes, and he said he has enjoyed being a member of council. “It's a bit hectic at times, juggling work and family and council, but it's fun at times as well,” he said.
He is running again, however, for the same reason he ran the first time, because the roads and road spending is still a concern. “We have spent money, but we need to get more efficient with our spending and our operations. I think we are in better shape than we were now that we have a public works manager in place,” Matson said.
He also said that he has seen township graders go down roads for a distance, then come back, only to return again a few days later, which is one of the major complaints that have been made by members of the public at all-candidates’ meetings.
“I've asked about that and was told it was because rain storms had washed out other roads and the grader had to deal with the emergencies first. But it has happened too often. I think it's a communication problem within the department,” he said.
At the Kennebec all-candidates’ meeting, Jeff Matson said, “We should have a schedule for grading the roads. Emergencies come up, but then you get back to our schedule. That way residents and council would know when the roads would be graded.”
There is a fine line between providing policy, which is council's role, and micro-managing the work of township staff, which is not supposed to be council’s role. “But I think we have to start crowding that line,” he said.
TOM WALLER
When Tom Waller and Allaine Nordin moved from Ottawa to their 90-acre property in the Elm Tree area 16 years ago, they did not plan to get into any kind of a market garden business.
But when they began to grow more food than they could eat, friends in Ottawa started asking them to bring a basket of vegetables each week. Pretty soon, Elm Tree Farm, a community-supported agricultural operation serving individual customers and restaurants in Ottawa, was born.
Their business has grown and changed over the years, and Waller and Nordin have also become involved on the political level with organic growers’ organizations.
Tom Waller has never stood for municipal office before, but he has more time available right now as the result of the changes at Elm Tree Farm. “Several years ago some neighbours asked me if I would like to run for council, but I never had enough time. I began thinking about it this summer, and as the nomination deadline approached there were only two candidates for the two positions in Kennebec, Jeff Matson and Tom Dewey, and I thought the voters should have a choice for councilor,” he said.
Waller said that as a new member of council he would have a lot to learn, but adds, “I'm fair-minded and I am not connected to any particular group. I will look at things from a results based perspective.”
He said that people’s concerns tend to focus on roads and taxes. “Before amalgamation Kennebec had well-maintained roads, and they haven't been up to that standard since then,” he said. “The real question on that is about road management and equipment usage.”
The other concern is taxes.
"If we want to hold a line on taxes, spending more money is not going to be the solution. We can make improvements through better management. For the money we're spending now, we need better results."
Britian Wilson
Britian Wilson moved to Arden from Kingston when his parents moved there upon their retirement about 20 years ago.
He bought a house on Elm Tree Road, behind the Kennebec Park in Arden eight years ago, where he lives with his wife and five children, who range in age from 15 to 5, and who all go to school in the township.
He used to drive a transport truck, but with young children to care for he is now driving the health van for the VON while his wife takes a college course in Peterborough.
He has also been a volunteer fire-fighter for over 10 years, and serves as the safety officer for the Kennebec crew.
One of the issues of concern to him is the state of the Kennebec Park.
“I did fund-raising for the park when I was in the youth group, and nothing has been done on the park ever since. That's 20 years. It's nice to see Janet Gutowski say she helped Sharbot Lake get a new park, but what about the rest of us?”
That being said, Wilson thinks the councilors should take a wider view of the township when considering issues, not just their own ward. “People need to realize it's not only Kennebec; it should be all the community,” he said.
Britian Wilson said that a lot of good has come to the area in recent years. “The fire department is better now with the two deputy chiefs being there, and the hall has been upgraded in recent years,” he said.
But it is the lack of local business that is the biggest problem the township faces.
“Any help we can give to small business, not even just to small business but to anyone who wants to start any kind of home business, we should be doing it,” he said.
Britian Wilson has a slogan for his campaign: “I believe I can use my voice to represent you – my neighbour.”
Ward 2, Olden
JUSTIN GRAY
Justin Gray, who is a cook at the Maples Restaurant in Sharbot Lake, is still much younger than most people running for Council, but he is already an experienced candidate and volunteer in his home town of Mountain Grove.
This is the third time has run for Council, and he has been a member of the fire department for 9 years and an Olden Recreation Committee member for 13 years.
“At this time I would like to see some changes in the township,” he said. “Better money management is one of the major ones. Every time you ask for something from the Council or want to see something done, there is never any money available.”
Part of the problem, Justin Gray says, is that work the township does is not always “being done right the first time and has to be done all over again. If people phone in a complaint that is because people are not doing their job. I think it is up to council to make sure people are doing their job properly.”
Another problem that Gray sees has to do with waste management. He said that the problem is that the township is giving away its recycling instead of seeking markets for it. “I think we could have curbside pickup here, which would create jobs in the township, and the cost would be covered by the sale of recycling. We could cut out bag tags because why should we be paying for garbage twice, once in our tax bill and once with bag tags?” he said.
He appreciates the new fire hall in Mountain Grove but says it took too long to build, and he wonders why the township did not take a stronger stand to protect Land O'Lakes Public School.
“Things are coming along,” he said, “but I think things could be better managed.”
NORM GUNTENSPERGER
Norm Guntensperger moved to Mountain Grove from Kingston about 12 years ago. When he was younger, he worked in nursing, but he went back to school to become a teacher.
He has been teaching since arriving in the area, at Hinchinbrooke for a few years and since then as a primary grade teacher at Land O'Lakes Public School, which is located within walking distance from his house.
Making use of his medical background, Guntensperger served for several years on the Olden Fire Department, as a firefighter and medical officer. His exposure to Council matters began in about 2003 when he got involved in the drive to get a new fire hall built in Mountain Grove.
When the Mountain Grove project was put on hold in favour of a new hall in Sharbot Lake after the existing hall was condemned, Guntensperger was one of the Olden firefighters who was more than a bit unhappy, and the fire hall issue was the impetus for his decision to run for Council in 2006.
“I was a bit of a one-issue candidate last time around. We were all extremely angry at the time at what we saw as unfair treatment of our district.”
In seeking a second term, he said he finds the whole process of council interesting and enjoys the cut and thrust of Council meetings.
Although the fire hall project was completed in 2008, Norm Guntensperger has continued to aggressively promote his district at Council, and took a strong stance in favour of keeping Land O'Lakes Public School open during the Limestone school board's accommodation review process.
At an all-candidates’ meeting last week, he defended his reputation as a strong ward politician. “Olden has been the poor cousin of amalgamation, and I make no apology for fighting to see it get its share of spending,” he said.
The Mountain Grove Park project, which is still in its infancy, but could include a number of features in addition to a ball field, and perhaps the relocation of the Mountain Grove Library, is one of the projects that Norm Guntensperger will advocate for if re-elected.
John Purdon
In 2001, John Purdon and his wife Maxine moved to Maxine's family home when he retired from a job with the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture after 32 years, and the Purdons quickly settled into village life in Mountain Grove, taking leadership roles in their church and with the seniors’ club.
John ran for council in 2006 and won one of the Olden District council positions. He quickly established a reputation for thoroughness and preparation on council. “There is information that needs some analysis before you enter into the discussion. I don't like to blurt anything out. There is some of that on council and I would like to see some of the other councilors address that, because it costs us time,” he said.
He would like to see reports to council improve as well. “We need complete information; too often we have to defer decisions because some information is missing.”
Halfway through the council term, Maxine Purdon became ill, and it became a struggle for John to fulfill his council duties, but he carried on. Sadly, Maxine died recently, and John has decided to remain in Mountain Grove and seek another term on council.
He has been serving as the chair of the township’s ad hoc waste management committee, which has been successful in bringing about e-waste recycling and hazardous waste recycling days, but some of the more comprehensive work has not been done, partly because of staffing issues.
“We lost our public works manager early in 2007 and the one we hired in 2008 didn’t call any committee meetings. The current manager has been calling meetings and I would like to carry on with the committee if re-elected,” he said.
In terms of Frontenac County, John Purdon is concerned that too much gas tax money is being spent on studies and not enough on infrastructure. If re-elected, he said he might consider seeking the second Central Frontenac Council seat on county council.
He supports the Mountain Grove Park proposal, but wants to be sure all the costing is done before aspects of the proposal go forward.
Ward 3, Oso
Carol Coupland
Carol Coupland was visiting a friend on Bobs Lake several years ago and she was quite taken with the beauty of the area.
She decided it would make a good place to retire, and when she found a waterfront property on Sharbot Lake off of the Fall River Road, she bought it.
During her working career, Carol Coupland worked for the Bank of Montreal (BMO) for 34 years, when she retired as Director, Fraud Detection and Investigations.
After spending 2 years working half of the time at home, here on Sharbot Lake and half of the time in Toronto, she retired from BMO in 2007 and has been a full-time resident on Sharbot Lake ever since.
Her introduction to the local community came through volunteering for the Frontenac Heritage Festival for the last three years.
"Working on the Heritage Festival, I have found the diversity of the people in so many pockets of the township a real inspiration. There are so many talented people living around here: gardeners, artists, musicians, tradesmen, and so much more."
While she has never served on municipal council, Coupland said her "work on a senior leadership team with multiple teams reporting to me, gives me a lot of experience dealing with decision making among people with strong personalities and opinions."
The number one issue she has heard about during the campaign and at the Oso district all candidates meeting has been roads.
"We need to make sure that we have a strategic plan for roads; however, I think the roads manager has been doing a good job, and the roads crew has been pretty responsive," she said. “Can we do better in this area? Of course - responsiveness can always be improved.”
Although a number of people have told her they think more roads should be hard topped, Carol Coupland thinks the township's gravel roads are appropriate as long as they are well cared for.
On the other hand, she thinks "something needs to be done to attract business to the village of Sharbot Lake. We need to keep what we have plus attract new businesses that aid in us providing an ideal destination for tourists."
Rick Greenstreet
Rick Greenstreet is not originally from the Sharbot Lake area, but his connection to the community goes back 50 years, and he has been a full-time resident in Sharbot Lake for 35 years.
Rick Greenstreet bought a piece of property on Wagner Road in 1970 and spent 5 years slowly building his house while working in Ottawa. In 1975 he finally moved in and, since he was a licensed mechanic, a few years later he purchased a service centre and garage on Highway 7 (now Ram's Esso). He ran that business until 1985. He then went back to teachers’ college and took a job as the shop teacher at Sharbot Lake High School, where he remained until he retired 2½ years ago.
He spends some of his time these days working with his daughter on her businesses and he operates his own greenhouse.
He has a long history of promoting economic development in the Sharbot Lake area, having served for a time as chair of the board of the Highway 7 Community Development Corporation.
That history was one on the factors that led him to seek municipal office for the first time during this election. “We need a little more business participation on Council, and in promoting economic development,” he said. “Municipal council has to take the lead to encourage these things.”
Other major issues for Greenstreet are water management and environmental protection. “We need to do some contingency planning to prepare for the day when we don't have any dumps left,” he said, adding that if he is elected, the first motion he will make on council “will be something that gives the mayor and council a chance to take some leadership in that area.”
He feels that the most important task of council is to protect the local landscape.
“The environment, pristine water and clean wilderness are the lifeblood of our economy and the crowning feature of the community.”
Wayne Millar
Although he is a newcomer to local politics, Wayne Millar is not exactly an unknown quantity to people living in Central Frontenac along Road 38
Since moving to Tichborne 16 years ago and later to Sharbot Lake, after retiring from a management career in construction, Millar has been operating a small business, Sharbot Lake Lawn Service. Running the business had made him a familiar figure in the area since he is out and about cutting lawns and clearing driveways just about every day of the week.
What people may not have known about Wayne Millar is that he has an interest in municipal politics.
When he was living the the town of Dunnville, which is located near Lake Erie, in the early 1980s, he ran for town council and received the most votes of 11 candidates in that election. He served for one three year term on Dunnville Council but did not run for re-election because he had received a promotion at work that involved some travel.
"I enjoyed being on Council back then and when this election was coming up I thought I would step forward," he said.
One of the things that Millar has noticed travelling the township’s roads for years is the state of the gravel roads.
"You don't want to go overboard about the roads, but when you see the number of potholes on the roads, and then see the township grader parked in the yard you wonder why that is," he said, adding that "the state of the roads has been something that people are always talking about."
Many of Millar's customers are seniors that need help maintaining their properties, and this gives him some insight into the need to keep taxes under control. "Many of my customers are on fixed incomes and they are wary of costs going up. We need to be sensitive to that."
Frances Smith
It is often of first-time candidates for council that people ask the question “Why do you want to do this to yourself?”
But for Frances Smith, who worked as a township clerk in the 1980s, was reeve of Oso Township for several years, and has a total of 21 years experience on council, that question is just as pertinent.
“I'll admit that at one point during this last council I thought I'd had enough, because it took almost three years for some trust to be built, but things seemed to improve and I decided to run again,” she said.
That decision was complicated by the fact that Frances Smith, who works as manager in social services for the County of Hastings, was up for a promotion, which would have meant working in Belleville and having to pull out of the campaign. But the job fell through and she remains in the race for council.
“One of things that I would like this next council to develop is the sense that we need to look at the township as a whole rather than at the different regions,” she said. “Instead of keeping score of who is getting what each year at budget time, I'd like to see council look strategically over a four-year period at least.”
The work that is being done in Arden, and proposals for a park in Mountain Grove makes sense to Smith, as she said, “the villages have been let go as we have been focused on major road work in recent times. But their time has come.”
While she said she is interested in Frontenac County matters, she said she is not in a position, because of her work schedule, to become directly involved.
Ward 4, Hinchinbrooke
HEATHER FOX
Although Heather Fox has never run for council, she is anything but a stranger to the municipal scene in Central Frontenac, and to the issues of concern in Hinchinbrooke ward.
She is a born and raised resident of the township. Between 1985 and 1998 she was the Clerk/Treasurer for Hinchinbrooke Township, and between 1998 and 2005 she served as Clerk/Administrator for the amalgamated Township of Central Frontenac. So, if elected she will be a rookie councilor with a lot of inside knowledge about how a municipality delivers services.
“I've never been on the other side of the fence,” Fox said about her decision to run for council, “although I do know what is expected from a staff point of view. I've had so much training over the years in various aspects of municipal procedures and responsibilities. I even took a course on what is expected of a member of council. So, I think that I have something to offer to council.”
Heather attended a Committee of the Whole meeting a few weeks ago. “I like the Committee of the Whole,” she said, “it gives councilors a chance to talk about their concerns, but I did find that there is still too much territorial thinking on council.”
She has always had the view that the ward system that is place now not only contributes to divisions on council, it is also undemocratic. “It is not democratic when decisions are made that affect people, but they did not have a chance to vote for the majority of the people who make those decisions. That happens now,” Fox said.
If elected she plans to bring a teamwork approach to the role of councillor.
“I was never a person to tell someone what to do, or to criticize someone in public. That doesn't change when you get to council. I prefer a team approach.”
One concern that she does bring from her experience as clerk is with Frontenac County.
“I haven't been in tune with the County. They are empire building as far as I'm concerned,” she said.
PHILLIP SMITH
Phillip Smith was born and raised in the Parham community, and now lives in the Piccadilly area.
He has served for four years as councilor for Hinchinbrooke ward, after winning a spot on council on his third try in 2005.
He has been, and still is, very active on the Parham Fair Board, where he currently has the role of Treasurer. He was president of the fair board for five years, and in that role he presided over the rejuvenation of the fair, which was facing lagging attendance. With the addition of new events about five years ago, the Parham Fair is now on solid footing again.
Phillip works at W.A. Robinson and Associates of Sharbot Lake, where he is the mortgage administrator.
“We have laid some groundwork on this council” he said, “through our organizational review, roads capitalization plan, and fire master plan. These are all good frameworks.”
However, what is missing, he said, is some sort of roads maintenance plan and schedule. “I thought we were close to that last summer, but it seems we have not carried through with it. We need to bring that back since it has been lost. I was surprised when our public works manager said earlier this summer that there was no program for grading. We need to address that.”
Phillip said he is also concerned about a couple of issues of specific concern to Parham residents, and if re-elected he will work on them at the township level. One is the future of the Hinchinbrooke school and site, since the school is scheduled to close during the next term of council, and the other is the future of the Parham ambulance base.
“I think if that base closes, ambulance service will be much slower for a lot of people in several different communities. Council needs to be active on that issue.”
BILL SNYDER
You would think that after 29 years on council, Bill Snyder would be a bit complacent when it comes to municipal elections, but even though he had considered retiring from council during this past term, when it comes to the campaign, he remembers the election of 1997.
That election was the first for the newly amalgamated Township of Central Frontenac. Bill Snyder was pretty busy in the farm and did not get a chance to get out and campaign. That was the first and only council election he has lost in almost three decades.
As a member of Central Frontenac Council, Snyder has been a forceful advocate for road work, particularly in his part of the township. “I strictly believe in fairness and everybody getting along and getting things done across the township,” he said, “but the way it is right now you have to speak up for your corner, because you might be forgotten otherwise. And, those are the people who voted for you in the first place. You have to represent them.”
Bill Snyder thinks it is important to keep two representatives for each region because people have issues with the township and need to have someone to bring them forward to council.
Roads continue to be central for him. “Every place I go people talk about roads. We've got gravel roads that have not gotten new gravel for three or four years. That's not right,” he said.
He cited the example of a small road, Mary Moore Road, which he visited recently. “The road is only 1.5 kilometres long, but it was so full of potholes I was embarrassed, since it is an access road for cottages.”
Apart from the road maintenance issues that continue to concern Bill Snyder, he feels that the latest council has made progress.
“I think we've accomplished a lot of things, mainly in the last couple of years, and we did well in handling infrastructure grants.”
