The Newly Elected Council Term of Council Will Soon Begin

Now that the Provincially wide Municipal elections are over it will soon be time for the newly elected council to begin. I was very humbled to receive an acclamation this election year. There were many changes throughout the Province of Ontario. Some municipalities will have completely new councils. Ask anyone who was elected they will tell you there is a certain learning curve to the job of a councillor or Mayor.

I congratulate the Acton councillors, Jon Hurst, Mike O'Leary and Clark Somerville on their acclamations as well. Also a congratulations to Jane Fogal, Bob Inglis, Moya Johnson, Dave Kentner, Joan Robson, Bryan Lewis for their solid victories in the election. Ann Lawlor is the one new voice on council. Ann ran an excellent campaign and Ann will be no stranger around the council chamber as she has worked on many community projects and committees over the years. John Duncan was not returned and I will miss is business attitude and of course his Irish humour.

In the next week or so I Will be meeting with the councillors elect to see what committees they are interested in serving also to get their ideas as well as what they may have heard while door knocking.

I personally feel we have a strong council. The election results have proved that the public supports them as they all got re-elected by wide margins with the exception of John Duncan.

The Halton District Catholic School Board has elected Mark Rowe. Mark grew up in Acton, raised his family in the Glen and taught in Georgetown. He will do a fine job.

The Halton District School Board voted to reduce their Halton Hills trustees from having two to just having one. Gillian Tuck Kutarna was elected. This last term board decision of school boards made decision which caused a lot of havoc. The HDCSB cancelled many buses in Georgetown South. They had public meetings but neither Save Our Buses or myself speaking on behalf of the Town could convince the Trustees to change their minds. The Public School Board never gave a chance to have this debated as they approved the cancelling of the buses in one night. Plus they put 2.62 acres of land at MSB School in Acton for sale. 5000 names on a petition could not convince these trustees that this was a big mistake.

Very interesting to note many of the trustees throughout Halton were wiped out at the polls. Some thought it would be best to run regionally. Big mistake as they were demolished at the polls. Councillor Jeff Knoll in Oakville and Councillor Rick Craven gave their opponents ( both Public School Board trustees ) a severe spanking.
Hopefully there will be lessons learned at the board. The now have many new faces and a new Super Intendent. Lets hope they can turn this around and we at the Towns have a positive relationship.