Beach Mayor will run for warden’s position

By Shawn Giilck Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin  October 28, 2009
WASAGA BEACH – After a difficult year, Simcoe County may not quite qualify as an asylum, but Cal Patterson wants to be its warden anyway in a bid to bring it back to “respectability.”
Patterson narrowly lost to incumbent warden Tony Guergis last year. Since then, Guergis has been battered badly by the county’s handling of the highly controversial Site 41 landfill debate. That situation turned into a public relations debacle for Simcoe County, many council members, including Patterson, have said.
“I just had a lot of comments from other county councillors that there needs to be a change of leadership,” Patterson told the E-B this morning. “What went on in the last year over Site 41 and the Barrie-Innifsil thing has left questions about the credibility of county council and I could not just sit back and have the current warden acclaimed.”
“I think it’s time some credibility came back to county council and gained some respect back from the residents and from county staff and council,” he added. “That’s my intent.”
Patterson said he thinks that can be accomplished in the last year of the term as municipal politicians gear up for the 2010 elections.
“I’ve sat back and listened and certainly there’s been a number of county councillors approach me about taking taking another run at it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
Patterson said he was “somewhat disappointed” with last year’s results, but said the narrow loss hadn’t shaken his confidence.