Barrie mayor says his job isn’t done yet

By J.T. McVeigh Barrie Examiner September 9 2010
And then there were six.
Two days before the close of nominations, incumbent mayor Dave Aspden announced his intention to seek a second term in the city of Barrie. At a press conference Wednesday with a crowd made up of developers, members of the city’s cultural committees and veterans from the Legion, Aspden said he is running again because his job is not done.
Questions have been raised about whether Aspden would be running again and what the status of his health was.
“My health is fine, I am just suffering the effects of a pinched nerve in my neck after a fall during the torch run (in January)” he said.
Aspden chose not to have surgery to repair the problem which he said would take him out of city hall for six weeks, but is undergoing laser therapy instead.
“I strongly believe that the citizens of Barrie want and expect their elected officials to be working and not running an election”, he said.
Now that council is in what Aspden refers to as its ‘lame duck’ period –
“where we can not make any major decisions”- this was the time he chose to commit himself to the upcoming campaign.
In what must be one of the most crowded ballots for mayor the city has ever seen, the choice must be made from a sextet made up of an incumbent, a former mayor, Rob Hamilton, two council members, Mike Ramsay and Jeff Lehmann, a former member of provincial parliament and city alderman, Joe Tascona and a local business man Harry Ahmed.
Speaking from a prepared script, Aspden allowed that this council wasn’t the most cohesive.
“Politics like Barrie has changed. Some people believe that on some days
it’s a blood sport,” adding that he had a good personal relationship with all council members outside of council chambers, but that a different tone was prevalent at a lot of the meetings.
In his past four years, Aspden cited his ability to help introduce Barrie to a global market, remarking on the number of delegates from China, in particular, that have visited the city looking for opportunities.
He also suggested that despite the recent recession, Barrie has been able to weather the storm better the other communities in the province and stil enjoys a reasonably low tax rate, while experiencing huge investments in infrastructure and growth.
“I understand that I will have to do somethings differently,” said Aspden but added he created an openness at city hall through his monthly open houses where residents had the opportunity to talk to him and city staff about concerns.
“My passion is serving the people of Barrie, I don’t duck and I don’t run from gunfire (referring to an incident in Toronto). he said.
“In answer to what I am going to do, this afternoon I filed my papers, my job isn’t done.”
Meanwhile, the race in Ward 8 is getting even hotter.
Ghulam Jilani and Donald McLaurin declared their candidacy in the south-end ward Wednesday. That falls on the heels of Canadian figure skating champion
Jennifer Robinson announcing her intention Wednesday to become councillor for that ward.
Current councillor, Jerry Moore, said he won’t be seeking the seat for another term, leaving it vacant.
Others running in Ward 8 are John S. Webb and Don MacNeil.