The Tiny Cottager Online

We believe
GEORGE LAWRENCE
would make an excellent Mayor

We supported George Lawrence’s successful candidacy for Deputy Mayor in the last two municipal elections and believe that he now has the experience to serve as Mayor. Where some Mayors actively dislike the social side of the job – attending functions, net-working, liaising with neighbouring heads of Council, and the like — George actively enjoys that side of the job. This is a major asset.

At the County of Simcoe, he has served on the Corporate Services Committee, which oversees matters like roads, bridges, garbage, windmills, and forests. In his first term he helped block the proposed cancellation of bulk garbage pickup and contributed substantially to the fight against locating a major landfill at Site 41 on Conc. 2.

During his second term he continued to effectively oppose the installation of wind turbines on Simcoe County forest lands in northwest Tiny, though he sees a place for solar installations as long as they are restricted to Class 5, 6, and 7 farmland. He helped iron out many problems as the new garbage pickup service came into effect in Tiny. He notes that it has been worth it, since the change has saved money. (He reports that the emerald ash borer that destroyed many of Toronto’s trees has reached Penetanguishene, but not Tiny as yet. Unfortunately, it seems that there’s no stopping it: only early treatment is effective, and that’s very expensive.)

In the Township, no Council Member has been more conscientious than he on local and neighbourhood matters. He makes himself available to the 8 to 10 constituents who telephone or e-mail him each week. About half the time, he makes site visits, sometimes traveling the length of the Township a couple of times in a single day.

At Tiny’s Council meetings, he arrives prepared and ready to raise questions. He does his share of committee work, in his first term serving on the Site 41 Community Monitoring Committee and on Tiny’s Accessibility Advisory Committee. He has been a member of the North Simcoe Heads of Council Committee in both terms, and this last term he has been the Council representative on the Wyevale Parks and Recreation Master Plan Committee, and on the Springwater Parks and Recreation Committee (Tiny Township children use its arena). He seized opportunities to meet with the LHIN and other Provincial representatives eager to ensure that colonoscopy and opthalmology services remain available at Georgian Bay General Hospital.

George has given a great deal of time to his community. He gained his first broad experience of the Township between 1996 and 2006 as chair of the now defunct citizens’ group Tiny’s Residents Working Together and as editor of its newspaper Tiny Ties. While some elements of TRWT were seen at the time as hostile to the aims of FoTTSA, George became sensitized to private property rights, including that of beaches. He helped further the system of parking permits for Tiny residents and a network of public parks along the shore.

He also familiarized himself and others with the problems associated with wind turbines and the dumpsite proposed for Site 41. In addition, each year since 2001 he has organized the highly useful Seniors’ Information Day. This year the event will take place on October 10 in the Midland Recreation Complex. Forty services are expected to be present to supply information, and there are to be five guest speakers.

He and his wife Joan have been permanent residents of Tiny Township since 1981. George was a successful builder, and took early retirement in 1995.

In his view the key priorities facing Tiny’s next Council are
• deciding how to manage the Township’s septage,
• evaluating, and possibly changing, the Township’s consultants,
• assessing the effectiveness of the Township’s staff,
• looking for ways to reduce the coming increase in the cost of policing,
• making sensible use of space in Township-owned buildings rather than building new township offices.

In our opinion, George Lawrence has the experience, the passion, and the commitment essential for anyone aspiring to be Mayor of Tiny Township.

If you have questions or concerns, you can reach George at gglawrence@sympatico.ca.

We believe you should elect
ANDRÉ CLAIRE
as Deputy Mayor

For the last eight years, André Claire has been a stalwart member of Tiny’s Council. He has received positive ratings from constituents for his prompt response to their concerns. He does more than his fair share of committee work, currently serving on the Huronia Airport Commission, the Economic Development Corporation of North Simcoe, the Champlain Commemorations Steering Committee, the Heritage Advisory Committee, and the committee working on a Nottawasaga River Improvement Plan. A team player, he works co-operatively with others to reach responsible decisions. He is fully bilingual and has played an active role in the preservation and celebration of Tiny’s rich francophone history and heritage.

His career as a professional engineer has given him analytical skills and technical knowledge. He consistently demonstrates a keen understanding of municipal issues and applies a logical approach to their solutions. A Tiny property owner since 1983, he and his wife, Ingrid chose to make Tiny their retirement home in 2001.

Two of his second term committees have been particularly important for Tiny’s understanding of its history. As vice chair of the Champlain Commemorations Steering Committee, a group plagued by “politics” and with many demanding subcommittees, he has had to exercise tact and patience. Finding grant money has not been easy: major funding has been promised by the Province if the Federal Government will also contribute, a commitment that has not been forthcoming so far. Nonetheless a number of events are planned for 2015, the 400tth anniversary of Champlain’s arrival in Tiny Township. Champlain will be the theme of next year’s Festival du Loup, there is to be an “Order of Good Cheer” in the spring (a feast like the one Champlain himself arranged in mid winter to cheer up those who had helped him), moveable murals are to be created, and an outlook point is to be established on the Concession 8 West hill from which the site of the village of Ossossane that Champlain visited, the trail he traversed, and the Collingwood area where he overwintered can be seen.

The Heritage Advisory Committee, of which he is an active member, has overseen the revision of the Township’s official history – Recollections: Township of Tiny. At André’s insistence, it will appear in French as well as in English books and also in digital versions.

According to André, Council’s accomplishments in the last four years are to have
• brought township accounting up to the standard set by Ontario’s Public Sector Accounting Board,
• produced a parking policy that takes safety, road width, the presence or absence of ditches and the like into account,
• given Council deliberations greater transparency and accessibility by supplying better descriptions of the reasons for in-camera sessions, and by making audio tapes of each meeting of Council available.
If he becomes Deputy Mayor he wants to
• set strategic objectives early in the next term,
• implement an environmentally and fiscally responsible solution to the disposal of septage,
• put the parking policy in place in planned stages, making sure that there is ample permit parking for township residents and limited paid parking for day trippers,
• consider the resources of all township-owned buildings when deciding whether new administrative offices are necessary.

André has proven that he listens, understands, and evaluates fairly the many interests of the residents of Tiny. He stands for responsible stewardship of our township.

He can be reached at andrepclaire@gmail.com

We believe you should elect
RICHARD HINTON
as Councillor

FoTTSA has known and respected Richard Hinton since he became a director, and then President, of the Cawaja Propertyowners Association in 2002. He began to serve on the Board of FoTTSA in 2010, and served as Vice-President from 2011 until he resigned in August when he decided to run for Council.
Since ownership of the beach and roads in Cawaja Beach is split: 2/3 by the beach association, 1/3 by the township, it took many years for the two parties to reach a workable Memorandum of Understanding on use of the beach. Achieving this result has required patience, tact and persistence on Richard’s Part, all qualities that would serve a Councillor well. It also brought him into contact with key members of staff and Council.

While Richard has been a seasonal resident of Tiny since 1998, his wife Cathy Argyle has been coming to the township since 1959. (Argyle Road in Cawaja Beach is named after her father.)

This summer, Richard revived and re-opened the Cawaja Pines General Store at the corner of TBRN and Conc. 11, which had been closed since 2007. This has been a highly successful venture, employing two full- and four part-time staff, selling locally produced products, giving the community a focus, and attracting interest for several concessions in each direction.

This was by no means Richard’s first venture into business or into community involvement. At 18, he became one of the youngest retailers of Texaco Canada, purchasing the gas station where he had worked from the age of 13. Subsequently he became a partner in six businesses, all connected to the retail gas and service industry. In 2002, he founded the Esso Dealer Owners Group to give a stronger voice to gas station owners. Under his guidance, this organization contributed to the community in a generous way. He became co-chair of Esso’s Rebecca’s Run from 2004 to 2007, which raised over $150,000 for Spinal Muscular Atrophy. His business experience has taught him how to use spreadsheets and has familiarized him with staffing matters.

Richard’s goals for Tiny over the next four years include:
• arriving at a decision about the treatment of septage,
• taking a sharp look at costs versus value in resolving blurry township ownership issues,
• considering policing in light of the coming dramatic increase in OPP costs,
• making township office hours more accessible to cottagers and working families.

Practical, good with people, skilled at calming disputes, knowledgeable about complex matters like septage and parking, Richard would be a great addition to Council. He would bring fresh eyes and experience to township governance. We urge you to vote for him.

He can be reached at richardhinton@rogers.com

We believe you should re-elect
NIGEL WARREN
as Councillor

As a Councillor for eight years, Nigel Warren has amassed a wealth of experience. More, he is known for his tenacity, returning to issues until they reach resolution or are taken as far as possible. With André Claire, he keeps a sharp eye on the Township’s cheque register, questioning anything that strikes them as odd, or inefficient, or inappropriate in the week or so leading up to a meeting of Council. Encouragingly, there have been fewer such instances in his second term. He is very much his own man and is not influenced by others unless they win his support with a better factual argument. He is honest and blunt.

In his first term, he was part of a Council that consistently opposed Site 41. With the others he supported the University of Guelph’s “Visual Impact Study,” which provides a scientific approach to the siting of wind turbine developments and which found very few appropriate locations for them in Tiny.

For the last four years, he has chaired the Septage Committee and the Huronia Airport Commission, represented the Township on the County’s Affordable Housing and Transportation Committees, and served on the Bluewater Dunes Restoration Committee until its work was deemed complete. He has continued to serve his community as vice president of the Sandcastle Community Association, as a member of the now much diminished Tiny Community Policing Committee, and an area coordinator and block captain for Neighbourhood Watch.

Until his retirement, Nigel worked as a purchasing and materials manager. As a senior manager with Burlington Technologies, he negotiated with Ford, General Motors, Chrysler and Toyota. He holds a Business Certificate from McMaster University.

When he and his wife became permanent residents of Tiny in 2003, they already knew the area well from many visits to relatives in the area. His wife is connected to the Maheu and Leroux families, descendants of settlers who came to Lafontaine over 150 years ago as loggers, later becoming farmers around Lafontaine and Perkinsfield.

As accomplishments of the current Council, he points to:
• the institution of zero-based budgeting, which began in 2010-11 with one department, a model that was then followed by the other departments,
• the replacement of the Ombudsman with the County’s closed-meeting investigator like the majority of other County of Simcoe municipalities,
• the fact that Tiny is viewed as one of the best managed townships in the province (a status which, ironically, makes it more difficult for Tiny to get funding), and
• adding quarterly reporting to the budgeting and financial systems.
Issues he sees for the incoming Council-
• finding a way to manage septage,
• coming up with alternatives now that OPP rates are rising dramatically,
• keeping industrial wind turbines out of Tiny,
• reviewing the Township’s choice of consultants,
• finishing the Official Plan Review, now that the Province has finally revised its Places to Grow document.

Community-minded, tenacious, experienced, Nigel Warren is an excellent choice as Councillor.

He can be reached at nigelgwarren@gmail.com

We believe you should elect
DICK WESSELO
as Councillor

After a career that gave him strong organizational, analytical, and problem solving skills, D.J. “Dick” Wesselo and his wife Sandy moved to Tiny in 2007 to enjoy semi-retirement.

Dick has involved himself in his new community as an active volunteer driver with Wheels 4 Wheels (the service provided by the Huronia Seniors Volunteer Care Team for those confined to wheelchairs). For several years he was a member of the Tiny Township Lions Club. He continues to serve on the Community Policing Committee, now a shadow of its former self since the Township and the OPP have ceased to support it. Since January, he has attended meetings of Council regularly, eager to understand the way the township he loves is governed.

Born in The Netherlands, Dick moved to Canada in 1970 (where he became a Canadian citizen in the late 70’s) and, at the age of 18 with only a high school education, embarked on a career that taught him much and kept him in the greater Toronto area. He expanded his skills by means of night school courses and on-the-job training. His first jobs were with financial collection agencies, one of which had the Ford Motor Company as a client. In quite short order, Ford hired him, and with that company he moved from collecting and repossessions to auditing and credit analysis. When the oil crisis closed Ford’s Oshawa office, he moved on to Citibank where he rose to become an assistant manager. He then became Manager: Data Control for Shared Health Network Services (the first point-of-sale network that linked health care providers with insurance companies). There he introduced much needed accounting controls and when this was automated, he began to look for inconsistencies and aberrations – fraud — work that made him conscious of issues to do with privacy and confidentiality. Next he became an Assistant Vice President of BCE Emerges (the internet convergence arm of Bell Canada, again with a focus on fraud), before moving on to his last full-time job managing a medical research office from 2002 to 2007. In “retirement” he is a consultant to two businesses, commitments that absorb two to two and a half days a week.

Dick sees a number of expensive financial challenges confronting Tiny’s next Council: the disposal of septage, the escalating cost of policing, and clarification of land ownership. His financial acumen and analytic skills would be valuable assets in making decisions about all of these. While sensitive to issues of privacy and confidentiality, he would like to see the township produce minutes that communicate clearly the decisions taken at meetings of Council. He thinks the township relies too heavily on the advice of consultants. He would like to see the next Council set itself some strategic objectives. And he thinks the Policing Committee plays a useful role and should be re-energized as a committee of Council.

Ethical, honest, forthright, reliable, and hard-working – these words recur in endorsements for Dick. We recommend that you vote for him as Councillor.

He can be reached at dwesselo@gmail.com