With the municipal election nomination period wrapping up today, it is time to start talking seriously about the choices facing Woolwich over the next four years.
I recently read a letter to the editor in Cambridge Today by Patrick Simmons that made an important point about municipal leadership:
“The more useful question for voters is not whether a mayor can bankrupt Cambridge, but what a capable mayor can do with the resources the city has.”
Substitute “Woolwich” for “Cambridge,” and I think that is a conversation worth having here.
Woolwich residents have faced significant tax increases over the past several years. I do not believe simply asking taxpayers for more money is a sustainable answer. Having served on Council this term, I also know the pressures facing the Township and how quickly the cost of maintaining infrastructure and delivering services can grow.
That means the next four years have to be about value.
We need to challenge ourselves and Township administration to operate as efficiently as possible, make disciplined choices about priorities, and get more from the resources we already have.
But good municipal leadership also requires looking beyond the question of what we can cut.
A municipal dollar can maintain a service, but it can also help secure outside investment, unlock provincial or federal funding, support economic development, or create partnerships that allow us to accomplish something we could not afford to do alone.
A strong mayor should be relentless about value for taxpayers. That means knowing when to say no, when to find a less expensive solution, and when an investment today will save money or strengthen the community over the long term.
It also means bringing people together. Municipalities cannot solve every challenge themselves. Progress often requires working with neighbouring municipalities, other levels of government, businesses, community organizations and residents.
That is the conversation I want to have during this campaign.
Not a race to promise the lowest number.
A serious discussion about how Woolwich can live within its means, provide good value for taxpayers, protect the services we all rely on, and make smart investments in our future.
The Mayor’s job is to understand the priorities of the community and provide leadership to the organization. It requires asking difficult questions, but it also requires developing workable solutions and bringing people together to deliver them.
I have done that as Chair of Ontario Pork and as owner of Genex Ontario. I have also spent this term learning the pressures, opportunities and realities facing Woolwich from inside Council.
Over the next nine weeks, I look forward to talking with you about how we can make Woolwich more efficient, more sustainable and more effective with the resources we have.
That is the kind of leadership I am seeking the opportunity to provide as Mayor.
Eric