The Blue Mountains council candidate Alex Maxwell would like to serve the community again on council, after being away from local government for many years.
Maxwell is a long-time and well-known local resident. He served on Thornbury council many years ago and looks back on his time fondly.
“When I was on Thornbury council we started the harbour, started the Georgian Trail, the old town hall, the footbridge and the water plant was in talks,” he said. “I didn't run again because I didn’t think we could get anything done, now I realize we planted some seeds. Anybody who thinks they’re going to change the world in 10 minutes ... it’s not going to happen.”
In recent years Maxwell has stayed busy in both the agricultural sector and the landscaping industry. He has served the community in a number of volunteer roles including on the Lion’s Club, working with organizations that improve water quality and wildlife habitat in local watersheds, on the board of the Blue Mountain Heritage Society and the Blue Mountain Curling Centre.
He said part of his work with the historical society has been focused on “bridging the gap” between long-time residents and new residents.
“It’s a different world now. Everybody has moved here and everybody should be part of it. The old us-and-them mentality has got to go,” he said.
On attainable housing, Maxwell said the town needs to strike the right balance.
“It’s a touchy subject. The municipality needs to be a facilitator and it has to be not only taxpayer-funded,” he said.
Maxwell expressed concerns about the possibility of density intensification coming to the community.
“I’m not comfortable with intensifying at six stories unless it’s offset by something. We have to enhance and preserve our access to water and our trails,” he said. “At what point do you defeat the purpose of moving here if it just looks like where you left? We have a lot of things to figure out here.”
Maxwell also said there needs to be a sharper focus on dealing with large issues on a regional basis.
“We can’t keep working in silos. We need to think more regionally here on infrastructure,” he said. “We’ll have to start looking at different ways of thinking and doing things.”
Maxwell also said he would look to see some changes with council’s current processes.
“We need to do some restructuring and housekeeping in the municipality. These committees are bogging everything down. We need to move the committees over to focus groups and working groups,” he said. “A lot of the heavy lifting in the municipality should come under the umbrella of service clubs and non-profits. They need projects, they want to increase their membership and they want to do stuff.”
