A relative newcomer to Collingwood, Steve Johns says he doesn’t need more time to fall in love with Collingwood, because he’s already there.
Johns is running for one of seven councillor seats in the 2022 municipal election.
His approach to the campaign and politics is to focus on ways to get opinions and feedback from the people who live and work here.
“This isn’t council’s town, this is the residents’ town,” said Johns. “We have to heed what we’re hearing from residents, so we have to continue to engage them in the process and the conversation.”
Johns retired in 2020, finishing his career as the senior director of corporate member association relations with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. His working career also includes 11 years as the CEO of the Lumber and Building Materials Association of Ontario, and he was an executive assistant to two members of City of Toronto and Metro councils.
Johns and his wife moved to Collingwood in August 2020 to be near their grandchildren. Prior to that they spent time in Collingwood for holidays.
“My passion and love for the town is unconditional and undeniable … and that’s got nothing to do with the duration of time I’ve been living in Collingwood,” said Johns. “I come into this race with a clean slate, no baggage.”
He was one of the applicants for the vacant council seat in March 2022, and took the experience to heart. With encouragement from family, he added his name to the election campaign for one of seven councillor seats.
His approach to the campaign has been to gather input from people about what they’d like to see council do in the next four years, and he hopes to take the same approach if elected.
“It’s being accessible to the constituency,” said Johns. “There’s that listening component, and I think there’s a responsibility to facilitate, in as many ways as possible, engagement with the public, and promote not only that engagement, but interaction and involvement with our activities.”
If he does get a councillor seat, Johns wants to “stimulate” public engagement through encouragement and reinforcing the fact that there’s a role for the public to play in influencing council.
“I think councillors will be in a much better position to make decisions that are truly informed and truly representative of the prevailing thoughts and priorities of the residents,” said Johns.
One of his ideas is to arrange issue-specific roundtables and focus groups to help advise council on future decisions.
“There’s huge intellectual property within the town and the residents and the business people in this town, and councillors, the mayor, and the deputy mayor would be foolish not to recognize it, leverage it, and take optimal advantage of it,” said Johns.
He hopes the town will be “creative” in the next term when it comes to private-public partnerships and making efficient use of taxations.
His priorities include core assets such as roads, bridges, and sewers.
“Green infrastructure … is very important in my mind,” said Johns. “We have to continue to safeguard our tree canopy and our other undeniable environmental assets and green assets … [wetland] has to be preserved and it has to be enhanced and recognized on merit for its importance.”
As for the big and popular issues this election – affordable housing, arts and culture centre, and recreational facilities – he said he’s enjoyed hearing resident opinions on them.
Affordable housing, he said, will have to be a collaborative solution, since it’s a widespread problem. He wants to keep working with the local affordable housing task force to find solutions that will help bring more affordable housing options to Collingwood.
He said items such as a new rec facility and an arts centre are needed as the town continues to grow and diversify.
“We have to figure out when, where, and how are these facilities going to be paid for,” said Johns. “I think that goes back to some creative thinking around alternative revenue streams.”
He expects one of council’s first big challenges will be the 2023 budget, and balancing the needs he’s hearing about on the campaign trail with the financial pressures on the budget.
As part of the process of taking stock of the town’s priorities, and the finances available to accomplish them, Johns would like to pitch a “diversity audit.”
“We have to look at … ratcheting up … the town’s commitment to diversity and inclusion,” he said. “I think we should … review how we’re doing as a town in that context against any established goals.”
This is Johns first time running for municipal council in an election campaign.
There are 12 candidates running for the seven available councillor seats for Collingwood in the 2022 municipal election taking place Oct. 24. The candidates include: Christopher Baines, Steve Berman, Ian Chadwick, George Dickenson, Deb Doherty, Cam Ecclestone, Brandon Houston, Kathy Jeffery, Steve Johns, Steve Perry, Chris Potts, and Rob Ring.
You can find out if you’re on the voter list by visiting the town website here.
Advance voting started Oct. 8 with internet or paper ballot voting options available. You can vote at the library in-person starting Oct. 8, or online anytime after Oct. 8 at 10 a.m. Library voting will take place Saturday and Wednesday, Oct. 8-22 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Oct. 24 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voting will close on election day, Oct. 24, at 8 p.m.
