Jeff Agar thinks St. Clair Township needs a change in leadership and he hoping voters will see him as the best choice for a new mayor.
He’s currently wrapping up his third term as a Ward 1 council. “It was always my plan,” he explains, adding he’s served on a multitude of committees and knows how the process works. “Plus,” he adds, “I’ve been a hockey coach for many years and I emphasize the team approach.
Agar, who works at Alliance Fabrication, says his main concern, is to bringing high-speed Internet to all St. Clair. “We’ve got million dollar houses with no Internet plus our agricultural community needs it,” Agar says. “I feel for anybody without good Internet,” he adds. “It’s hard to fathom…I think we can do better.”
Agar says the municipality needs to address the deteriorating Moore Sports Complex and golf course clubhouse.
“The arena is in rough shape,” Agar explains. “It needs a lot…we may have to gather public input to see what people want.”
Agar sees the diversity of St. Clair — with its large and small industry, agricultural and small villages — as its great strength and he loves the municipality’s “tight-knit” community.
He believes his “honest approach” will serve residents well if he’s elected to the mayor’s chair. “If you treat people with respect, and answer as best you can, and try and assist you will get positive feedback,” Agar notes.
If elected, Agar says he wants to ensure that council’s decisions are fiscally responsible.
“I worry that there will not be enough funds to afford all the projects that need completion without raising taxes above the rate of inflation,” he says. “We have to do whatever it takes to make it possible.”
Internet Agar’s top priority in St. Clair
Welsh says Petrolians are happy and content this election
As Liz Welsh goes door-to-door in Petrolia she’s finding “most people are happy and content.”
Welsh, a councillor for the last 12 years, is running for mayor.
While the other candidates say people have been talking about the desire for change after the Nov. 2017 resignation of the former CAO under unusual circumstances, Welsh says as she travels door-to-door “not a lot of people have a lot of issues.”
Some of the elderly voters have voiced concern about the new internet voting system, she says, but can be reassured they will receive help.
“I’m really not seeing the concerns …most people seem to be quite happy and content.”
And Welsh says she’s simply not hearing at the doors that people are looking for the change other candidates are talking about.
“I would like to know what the people want a change from – just the people sitting on council – because I certainly wouldn’t want a change from the fact we brought in millions and millions of dollars for infrastructure or had more community events than we’ve ever had or that the arena is set for the next 25 years, we’re essentially saving our hospital, so I’m not really sure what people want a change from.”
One issue she does get questions about is the council decision to close the local composting site. Welsh has always been a strong advocate of composting and she’d like to see the issue revisited.
“We need to go through the items on the Ministry of the Environment’s list and we have to get hard numbers on what exactly were going to have to do,” she says.
If the municipality has to invest in leachate management, that will be a big ticket item, Welsh says. She adds council may have to spend money to review the issue.
“It’s probably going to cost to have it all examined, too.”
Welsh cautions it will take time to review the compost site issue and she says in the meantime council should ramp up the efforts to chip branches at the curbside and provide at-cost home composters.
And when the issue of releasing the report by John Fleming into the action of the former CAO is brought up, Welsh says the town has to follow the advise of its lawyers who say it is a personnel issue that can’t be released to the public. “Anybody with municipal experience or HR experience knows that can’t be made public.”
Welsh plans to focus her energies on improving the town’s infrastructure and continuing to provide support to Bluewater Health as it renovates CEEH by creating a healthy environment in the community for citizens.
Maniuk ‘just like every other taxpayer’ in run for Petrolia mayor
Bob Maniuk wants to approach Petrolia government like a taxpayer.
Maniuk is one of three people running for the mayor’s position Oct. 22. And he says each of those people come at the position with a different view. One, he says, is “defending the administration that is there now” and the other is talking about change but comes from an administrative background. “I’m just coming in as every other person who is a taxpayer.”
Maniuk says there are a lot of good things the former council has done, but it dealt poorly with accusations of favouritism leveled by developers. He wants a more “pro-business attitude” working with developers in the hopes of attracting people to build seniors housing and high rises.
On the hustings, Maniuk has heard a lot of people talk about reopening the compost site – he favours looking at that.
But one of the big themes people are talking with him about is change.
“They just want a change of leadership…that’s going to happen,” he says noting the current mayor isn’t running.
But Maniuk says there shouldn’t just be change, but a change in tone. “If were going to have more of the same, someone who wants to defend the current administration that’s not change…not everyone is going to bring the kind of change people want.
“I run into some people who said take the whole council out….fed up with the whole thing get a whole new bunch.”
Maniuk isn’t in favour of that saying experience is valuable on council, especially as councillors try to set the 2019 budget. In the last few years, the municipality has completed its budget in December.
It was said to give the municipality a leg up with the province.
But this year, the new council will just be sworn in at that time. Maniuk thinks it is reasonable to expect the budget won’t be complete until January. He wants councillors to take a long look at what is proposed by administration.
“I want to see more scrutiny; not that we don’t trust staff, it just yes, we with confidence endorse what staff has done.”
And Maniuk wants to see the Fleming report available for the public if possible. He’d also like to look at the contracts the municipality uses.
He doesn’t believe people who have been “caught with their hand in the cookie jar” should be able to write their own exit package.
Loosley wants to work with MOE to find ways to reopen compost site
Brad Loosley would like to work with the Ministry of the Environment to see if the Petrolia compost site could be reopened.
It’s just one of the items the 69 year-old former clerk has on his list of things to do should he be elected mayor of Petrolia Oct. 22.
Loosley is one of three running for the position. He cites his experience working in municipal administration as one of his strong suits which will help voters regain trust in their local council.
Council’s closure of the compost site has been one of the big issues Loosley’s been hearing going door-to-door. And he believes the town should take a look at the options available. “The ministry is always cooperative when you cooperate with them…you can negotiate…see about phasing things in to see what can be done,” he says.
Loosley hopes to arrange a meeting with staff, the mayor and the MOE to explore the possibilities.
Loosley says voters are also upset about the new online voting system. He says many people were expecting to be able to have a paper ballot option. He would like to consider that for the next election, should he be elected.
Loosley is also aware many people are skeptical about municipal politics after the former CAO resigned in November. He hopes to build confidence by making sure town hall releases “factual information” whether it is good or bad.
But the candidate is still not sure whether the report on the former CAO’s activities should be released publicly.
He says provincial legislation may keep the report under wraps.
Loosely suggests there could be an overview of what happened present to the public so people won’t think things are being “purposely hidden…There are still people wondering what is the big secret.”
Loosley believes many of the problems encountered in the last few years can be solved with open, factual information provided to the public which he vows to provide if he’s elected.