Incumbent councillor Kathy Jeffery hopes to return to the council table and get a refreshed list of priorities from residents within the first few months.
After a decade and a half in the seat, she said the role of a councillor is to gather and listen to public feedback and run with the community’s priorities.
“What I’ll be looking for, if I get in, in that first 100 days … is a commitment by council to a new community-based strategic plan,” said Jeffery. “We start again and figure out what the prioriries are, because I think those can change a bit.”
There have been two such plans, one made in 2015 and another approved in 2020. Both have come with regular progress reports from staff to council to outline what action items in the plan have been done, are in the works, or are still on the to-do list. The plans are formed with public input into town priorities and action items are developed from those priorities identified by residents.
“It’s time to get back to that community-based strategic plan and determine what the community’s priorities are, rather than council trying to guess,” said Jeffery. “I think that will be critical.”
On a related note, she wants to see the town’s customer service levels return post-COVID and increase.
“I thought we were making great headway before COVID, and COVID brought its own challenges by not being able to have town hall open as much or as many people available,” said Jeffery. “So I feel like there’s kind of been a bit of a step back, but it would be priority of mine, and I’m pretty sure it’s one of our senior staff’s priorities too, to ensure that level of customer service.”
She said her standard is that people should be able to call town hall during office hours and get a voice, not a voicemail, on the other end.
Jeffery has spent 15 years on council beginning with her first term from 2003-2006. In 2010 she ran unsuccessfully for mayor so was not on council from 2010-2014. She was elected as a councillor in 2014 and 2018.
She has been elected several times to the board of directors for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), which is a national organization representing and advocating for 444 Canadian municipalities to provincial and the federal government. Jeffery has been part of FCM since 2005, except for the term she was not on Collingwood council.
She’s running again because she wants to be part of the work being done to make Collingwood more affordable.
“It seems that every term there’s something unique that comes up, something that wasn’t expected, and the things you think you were going to get done, dont necessarily get done,” she said. “There’s a bit more I’d still like to work on … a lot that falls under the spectrum of affordability, whether it’s affordability of taxes, housing, or just being able to afford our quality of life and the staff complement we need to deliver the services.”
The veteran councillor sees the municipality’s role as an advocate and policy-setter to encourage more affordable housing in the community.
“There won’t be any quick fixes, but I think we can start setting some foundations,” said Jeffery. “It’s going to come through decisions on policy, and continuing to do as much as we can and funding it – the research – and really encouraging the developers to get their ideas and solutions and find out how they can participate … because they’re going to be impacted by those policies.”
For Jeffery, a legal secretary by training and a bookkeeper by profession, affordability means getting the “best bang for your buck.”
“There’s a lot of factors, like the pressure of growth, which brings some benefits and some negatives,” said Jeffery. “It puts stress on services and expectation of services and our cost to deliver them, and that’s where inflation is really going to wreak havoc.”
She expects inflation and managing the town’s finances will be one of the bigger challenges in the next four years, at least of the challenges known at this time.
“We’ve put ourselves in such a good position in terms of our cash and our financial position,” said Jeffery. “But there is some pressure on continuing to build the reserves, given the increasing infrastructure … and impact of inflation.”
Inflation uncertainty aside, Jeffery said there are exciting times ahead for this term, and opportunities for residents to stay involved with big projects like the Terminals building redevelopment and the proposed Poplar Regional Health and Wellness Village on Poplar Sideroad.
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: Chris 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.
