Ramara Township incumbents along with their new council colleagues say they are ready to take office and start delivering what they promised voters.
“I look forward to bringing the new team together,” said Basil Clarke, who will be serving another four years as mayor. “It looks like we have some great councillors.”
He will be back on council with incumbents John O’Donnell, deputy mayor, and Kal Johnson, Ward 5 councillor.
Clarke said he is looking forward to working with new colleagues David Snutch, Joe Gough, Ted Lamb, and Gary Hetherington, councillors for Wards 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Clarke said he knew all the newly elected councillors, both through personal and professional connections.
“David Snutch's father sat on council when I first got elected in 2000,” he said. “Ted Lamb was on council back in the '80s. The very first time I got elected I defeated Ted, so it was nice to see him back on council.”
Hetherington is very knowledgeable about the inner workings of the township, so he will make a fine addition as well, noted Clarke.
The long-time mayor said he has enjoyed working with Johnson and O'Donnell the last four years and looks forward to getting to work with them again.
Marg Sharpe, former Ward 2 councillor, was vying for Clarke’s job this year. She was also at the Brechin Legion, where results were announced to the 100 or so people in attendance.
“I'll miss being on council,” she said after her loss. “I really enjoyed the last four years and I think I did a pretty good job being on council. It's been a lot of work and I've enjoyed working with the residents.”
Sharpe said she will continue to be involved in the township one way or another.
The one thing that disappointed Clarke about the elections was the low voter turnout.
“We're down by 1,000 votes from last time,” he said, noting slightly more than 4,000 residents voted. “I do blame the online and phone voting systems.”
The township decided to go paperless for this election, and, according to Clarke, who had voted against this step, the move received negative feedback from voters.
“I heard that a lot when I went door to door that people will be boycotting that style and won't vote,” he said. “I hope we will work on it and bring back the traditional voting system.”
On this matter, Clarke has support from Lamb, the new Ward 3 councillor.
“That's one of the things I want to look at right off the bat,” he said, adding, “A lot of people complained to me when I was knocking doors that they still liked to mark names on a ballot. It's a social thing for them; they like to talk to others.”
Aside from this, Lamb said he hopes he can work toward building a more communicative and open relationship between council, staff, and residents.
“I know a lot of the employees and they weren't happy with council,” he said. “We need to be more transparent with the ratepayers, so they know what's going on. And you get the same people coming to meetings so other than them, nobody hears nothing.”
There is lots of work to be done, said Gough.
“I know we as a township have to focus on growth,” said the newly minted Ward 2 councillor. “Right now, the whole township is zoned either agricultural or natural heritage, so we're not allowed to sever off any lots within the township. That's something I want to work on as a councillor because then we can have some growth in the township.”
Another pressing issue for the councillors is the health of Lake Simcoe.
“We have to approach the province so we can have a new waste water system put in near the lake,” Gough said.
Environment was also on the mind of Ward 1 winner David Snutch.
“There's a huge new quarry development going in the Floral Park community,” he said. “People have been upset about it for a long time, so I stood behind them.”
Snutch said he is concerned about the environment and water sources in his ward.
“I mean it's such a precious resource, but we've got so many issues going on with Lake St. John,” he said. “We've got all this illegal (soil) dumping going on in the township. We have to put our foot down on that.”
Those were some of the matters other candidates running in his ward wanted to look at, too.
“I always look at clean water for the community — that's what brought me into the race,” said Ken Burd, “We need better policing, because that is one of our biggest budget items that the township has to contend with. I think we should get more visibility from our OPP.”
He said he would continue taking interest in issues that affect his ward so his voice is heard.
Burd’s peer Glenn Spriggs congratulated Snutch on the win and said he looks forward to a prosperous future for all of residents in the north end of the township.
“I don't have any regrets with my campaign,” said Spriggs. “I ran a clean race and spoke from the heart.”
Hetherington, the new councillor for ward 4, said his margin of victory - just four votes - was a little too close for comfort.
“I'm still overwhelmed to be honest,” he said. “It was a very close race. I'm relieved now.”
Hetherington said he would like to see the township’s reserve funds continue to grow and roads in Ward 4 fixed.
“The big thing is getting economic development in here and ensuring our post-secondary educated children don't have to leave,” he said. “I'd like to see something for the youth in the greater Brechin area skate park, with the co-operation of the private sector and service clubs.”
Hetherington said he would like to aim high for his township’s progress.
“I'm going to go pie in the sky and say we need a GO Train here,” he said. “I think we should be approaching Metrolinx and get some type of transit from this township into Orillia and south.”
While Hetherington is focusing on that, Johnson and O’Donnell said they would like to continue working on projects they started while on council.
“I would like to continue with the short-term rental issues we're having,” said Johnson. “I'd like to continue dealing with removing the weeds from our lagoons in Lagoon City. I would look to (see us) buying more equipment to help do that.”
O’Donnell said he would like to partner with the Progressive Conservative government to bring natural gas to township areas, such as Plum Point, Bayshore, Lagoon City, and Brechin’s industrial park.
“We need the natural gas to bring economic stability to our township,” he said. “Now that we're a conservative riding with conservatives in government, hopefully this will happen.”
