Clinton News Record, 2014-12-03, Page 3OUR BEST
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Wednesday, December 3, 2014 • News Record 3
Versteeg, Gowing and MacLellan
all vying for warden position
Dave Flaherty
QM' Agency
Three members of
county council have
thrown their names in the
race for county warden.
Howick Reeve Art Ver-
steeg, Morris-Turnberry
Mayor Paul Gowing and
Central Huron Mayor
Bernie MacLellan are all
seeking the position.
The new warden will
serve a two-year term.
Vertseeg, who has run
for warden before, said he
believes it is the next step
in his municipal politics
career.
He said with his experi-
ence as reeve in Howick
and sitting on committees,
he has a "good grasp on
the procedural guidelines
and how to implement
them with orderly fashion
and good discussion."
Versteeg said local
municipalities are going
be facing some "financial
pressures" due to cuts in
provincial funding, so he
said county council needs
to be careful not to add
too much on their level as
well.
He said there are a
number of potentially
major projects coming up
for the county, including
possibly looking at a new
ambulance station and
addressing a lack of space
in the archive facilities.
With the creation of the
county's new economic
development board, Ver-
steeg said he is interested
to see what benefits the
county can reap from it.
In his view, Warden's
responsibility is to see that
the decisions of council
are acted on and moved
forward.
Versteeg supports the
idea of a two-year term.
"It's pretty tough to
learn the job, do the job
and be consistent in one
year," he said. "I think it
will give a little more con-
tinuity. We don't know for
sure but I think it is a good
move."
This is Gowing's first
time running for warden.
He said his love for
Huron County has grown
and developed during his
time on county council.
"We are one of the best
kept secrets in the prov-
ince," he said.
Moving forward,
Gowing said it will be key
for the county to follow up
on a number of initiatives
that results from council
revisiting their strategic
plan.
"One is a review of our
facilities as a county to see
what is really needed
there to keep Huron
County functioning at the
same level,"
He too is very alarmed
by the "reduction of trans-
fers from the province"
which he said will have an
effect on the county's
budget and those of lower
municipalities.
Gowing said one of
Huron County's greatest
strengths is the diversity
between all of its munici-
palities - but it is impor-
tant they all work together.
"We can't stand alone in
what we do," he said.
He was also a supporter
of the two-year term.
"It creates a level of con-
tinuity," he said. "Once
you have made contacts
with organizations and
people at different govern-
ment levels, being there
for a two-year term would
see that progress go
through."
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To Gowing, the role of
the warden is to act at the
will of county council and
follow through initiatives
they want to see them
move forward on.
The third candidate,
MacLellan, already has
one term as warden under
his belt, albeit, when it
was a one-year term.
Perhaps one of the
strongest proponents of
the two-year term, McLel-
lan said after his tenure as
warden he recognized the
fact "you could barely get
yourself comfortable."
McLellan said he
doesn't believe Huron
County gets enough credit
and doesn't market itself
enough.
Building relations with
the provincial and federal
governments are key to
him.
He is a strong supporter
of economic development,
and he said whoever is
warden has to have that
attitude and recognize
potentially good ideas.
MacLellan said one of
the biggest issues facing
the county is "the provin-
cial government trying to
balance its books on the
back of the taxpayers."
"That is a topic that all
rural municipalities need
to get together on and ask
'why'", MacLellan said.
"Some of the decisions the
province is making have
only affected rural
municipalities."
He said the part of the
role of warden is being a
good spokesperson on
behalf of the county.
Namely, even if the war-
den didn't vote for a par-
ticular issue, if it is the
decision of county coun-
cil, they must support it
moving forward.
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"Doesn't matter if you
agree or disagree," he said.
Another important
issues for the county are
its facilities, MacLellan
said.
In his opinion, there are
a number of facilities
across the county that
could be rented out for
good revenue.
He would also like to see
a central facility that could
house more departments in
one spot and be better
designed for today's needs.
The new warden will be
chosen by county council
at the Dec. 3 meeting.
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