Twenty years later, Frances Smith returns as Frontenac County warden

Jeff Green | Jan 06, 2016

Twenty years ago, Frances Smith won the confidence of two dozen, mostly male, members of Frontenac County Council and was elected warden. At the time she was the reeve of Oso Township.

None of them knew it at the time, but all the reeves and deputy reeves on the Council at the time were destined to be the last to hold their positions on their own municipal councils.

“As soon as I was elected warden, the government announced they were forcing amalgamation in and I spent my year as warden – 1996 - at endless meetings as we negotiated how amalgamation was going to work in Frontenac County,” Smith said as she donned the chain of office for 2016. “I am hoping that this year will not be quite so busy or difficult.”

Many of the issues that are on the county agenda currently, such as shared services, are part of the long-term working out of the relationships between the County and its member municipalities that started when Smith was last warden in the mid 1990s.

This time around the election was a mere formality. As the sitting deputy warden, it was a virtual certainty that she would take her turn as warden in 2016, as it will be for South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal in 2017. Vandewal was acclaimed to the position of deputy warden just after Smith became warden in a similar manner. North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins is slated to serve as deputy warden in 2017 and warden in 2018, the final year of the mandate for this council.

Only the municipal mayors, of whom there are four in Frontenac County, are eligible for the position of warden, which carries administrative, political and ceremonial responsibilities. The position also comes with additional pay. The base salary is $22,500, but the total can go as high as $28,500 when per diems and expenses are included. This is a jump from the $14,138 upper limit that County Council members receive. (All members receive additional pay for their roles on their own township councils).

The warden represents the County at regional meetings such as the Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus and at provincial events such as the annual Rural Ontario Municipal Association/Good Roads Conference in February and the annual Ontario Municipal Association Conference in August.

Smith said she does not have any over-riding goals for her year as county warden.

“The thing about the county is it's a steady-as-she-goes kind of ship. Having said that I would like to see the trail initiative get moved towards completion and to see the economic development plan get underway,” she said.

Although when she was warden the last time it was in the Oso township, pre-amalgamation days, Smith has been involved in local politics as a member of Central Frontenac Council since 2003, so she has seen the county develop from the perspective of township councilor for a dozen years before taking on the role of Central Frontenac mayor and County Council member a year ago.