As the Minto Chamber of Commerce held its recent all candidates meeting, residents had a chance to hear two different visions of the future as mayor and mayoral candidate put forth their platforms.
The meeting had brought together candidates for school board, council and deputy-mayor as well.
Minto chamber president Glen Hall said that while 10 minutes would be made available for each candidate “10 minutes do not need to be taken.”
Only a few candidates needed to be cut off after that limit.
Out of the gate for a second time at the Harriston Community Centre, both mayoral candidates in Minto offered their approaches to the path ahead in Minto.
George Bridge
Bridge commented that the size of crowd indicated the interest in the upcoming election.
He reiterated comments that such meetings are not only for residents to find out about the candidates, but for candidates to learn what is on the minds of the residents.
Throughout the meeting, Bridge was taking notes to find out what people stand for.
He spoke of his financial and management background across the province and connections to the community.
His campaign is based on his three areas of expertise: leadership, management and financial.
“My goal for Minto is to run the town as a business, with the taxpayers as shareholders.”
“We need to keep expenses down and nip personnel issues in the bud, and not let them get out of hand.”
Bridge advocated the use of local talent over that of expensive consultants.
He also wants to see a review of development charges to ensure the municipality remains competitive and is seen as “open for business.”
Bridge wants to see an open and responsive council and staff.
He also believed in a good secession policy, to provide a chance for current employees to move up the ladder.
If elected, he promised to use his skills as a “full-time” mayor for the next four years.
David Anderson
Incumbent mayor David Anderson said “this is a very important time of year, because it gives you, the people of Minto, a chance to pick your new council to lead forward into the future.”
He considered this a democratic right to take part and to take part in local council by voting and making the right choices.
Anderson noted that in the past there has not been a great turnout in the number of votes cast.
“It’s very important.”
“As the current mayor of Minto, I have a vision for this community and it’s pretty simple.”
He noted that with amalgamation in 1999, four municipalities became one.
“We became stronger as one. You can do that relatively easily without competing against one another.”
At the same time, Anderson said it was important to understand and to maintain the uniqueness of each community.
“If this town does that, we will be able to accomplish a lot.”
In that he pointed to the achievements over the past term of council.
Anderson pointed to his work with many groups within Minto including staff, council and the large volunteer base active in all aspects of the community.
He sees the work done thus far leaving Minto as poised for future development and growth.
“All these improvements come with a cost,” and Anderson said there’s been a lot of talk about the debtload.
He said Minto was successful in its grant applications in the past few years – over $4 million in the past two years from the provincial and federal governments.
“That has been invested in our infrastructure.”
Although the town had to borrow a third of that money, Anderson said it allowed the work to be done at a 50% savings even when the debt servicing cost is taken into account.
He said these are long term investments into the community’s roads, bridges and water supply.
“That is the only way this municipality can grow, is if we have a stable infrastructure to support it.”
He recognized the importance of the taxbase to its citizens.
Anderson noted that the Norgan Theatre was a hot issue in the last election, and its success has reaped the benefits of the 60 to 80 volunteers.
He also commented that while the cost involved with the CN Land rehabilitation has also been a sensitive issue, “It was an issue we did not have complete control over.”
Anderson said the province mandated the property had to be rehabilitated, “it seemed only prudent to do so when funding was available to offset costs to the town.”
Anderson plans to pay down the debt, maintain services and operate in the most fiscally responsible way possible.
He pledged to work to continue to make Minto “a place where your family truly belongs.”
