Huron Expositor, 2006-09-13, Page 6Page 6 September 13, 2006 • The Huron Expositor
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News
Ferg Kelly stepping down from
olitical life after serving McKillop
and Huron East for 12 years
Susan Hundertmark
4111111111.111101)
As he and his wife Anne sell their
McKillop farm and settle into a new
home in Seaforth, Ferg Kelly is also
stepping down from political life
after 12 years as a Huron East
councillor.
Kelly told his fellow councillors at
last Tuesday's meeting that he will
not be a candidate in this fall's elec-
tion, leaving the slate of two
McKillop representatives wide open
for newcomers. Kelly's counterpart,
McKillop Coun. Sharon McClure is
also retiring from public life. • '
Kelly, who got involved in munici-
pal politics to serve his community,
said he's hoping others with the
same motivation will step forward
and run this fall.
"It's been a lot of work and you
have to be really committed.. But, I
like to think people will come for-
ward, rather than being pushed.
There are a lot
of sharp minds
out there," he
said.
Kelly first ran
for office in 1994
winning one of.
three seats in a
field of five can-
didates. And, he
hasn't had to
run in an elec-
tion since
because he and
McClure have
been acclaimed
ever since.
"I haven't
heard an inkling
of any interest in
anyone in
McKillop run-
ning yet. But, it's
always nice to
have new faces
and new opin-
ions on council,"
he said.
As a council-
lor for McKillop
Township, Kelly
worked hard to
keep the roads in
good condition
and was a strong
proponent of
blue box recy-
cling, helping
McKillop become
one of the first
municipalities to
participate in
the recycling
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Ferg Kelly
program.
"Roads were always our number
one concern and hopefully we did a
good job. We did get lots of compli-
ments over the years," he said.
He's also been concerned with
environmental issues, from recy-
cling to the stewardship of the land.
A hot issue for McKillop in the
late 90s was the growing size of live-
stock operations and fears of their
effect on the environment.
"McKillop was caught in the mid-
dle of that but it was proved out
that the large operators do care
about the environment. They creat-
ed their own restrictions before the
province did," he said.
As a McKillop councillor, Kelly
was entrusted with the job of repre-
senting McKillop during amalgama-
tion talks during the late 1990s.
"I'm very proud of Huron East and
the small part I've had in creating
it. I worke 1 on that for two years,"
he said.
Once word reached the area that
Huron County municipalities were
expected to amalgamate, Kelly and
then -reeve Bill Siemon began
attending meetings throughout the
county with potential partner
municipalities along Highway 8.
He said the initial idea that
Huron County be divided into three
municipalities "fizzled out" but
McKillop eventually found a part-
nership with Seaforth `and
Tuckersmith could work.
"We had the same outlook on a lot
of things and decided we could get
along," he said.
But, when the three-way partner-
ship was found to be too small to
have more than one representative
on county council, Brussels and
Grey were approached and eventu-
ally all five municipalities became
Huron East.
"It took a lot of my time but I'm
proud to have been on that commit-
tee. McKillop put a lot of trust in
me," he said.
And, while he won't be on council,
Kelly is looking towards a bright
future for Huron East.
"The proof is in the pudding. The
effort and money spent on promot-
ing this area is paying off and we
owe Ralph (Laviolette, economic
development officer for Huron East)
a debt of gratitude."
Kelly picked up a magazine while
in Ottawa recently and found an
article featuring heritage sites in
Huron East.
"I was amazed to see this. We are
getting on the map big time. We
have got a great future here," he
said.