BWG: Incumbent faces local farmer

Dennis Roughley and Rob Keffer seek the deputy mayor’s chair
By Jay Gutteridge Bradford Topic Sep 23, 2010
The race for deputy mayor in Bradford West Gwillimbury pits a veteran politician against a newcomer to the political scene.
Incumbent Dennis Roughley is challenged by Rob Keffer, who is heavily involved in the local agriculture sector.

Like the mayor, the deputy mayor represents residents on both town and county councils.
Dennis Roughley
Mr. Roughley is campaigning on his record and said he wants to continue what council has started.
He said the role of deputy mayor requires someone with experience.
“It needs a person like myself who has been there, done that and walked the walk,” he said, noting the deputy mayor must also be fiscally responsibly.
Mr. Roughley said it’s important to make Bradford West Gwillimbury a complete community where people can live, work and play.
“To be a complete community, we need to focus on areas we lack badly, and one of those is health and wellness,” he said.
Mr. Roughley is advocating for the current Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library building to become a health centre once the new library is complete.
The current council got close to $40 million in grants from the federal and provincial governments to go toward infrastructure, including the new library and leisure centre, he said.
Simcoe County, the town and the province partnered to create 25 new accessible, affordable seniors housing units in town, he said.
Mr. Roughley also noted the commencement of the Holland Marsh canal reconstruction, current construction of a soccer dome, creation of the Scanlon Creek dog park and improvements to roads and signs as highlights of the last term of council.
Council must continue to lobby the provincial government to create a Bradford bypass connecting highways 400 and 404, he said, which would ease the town’s traffic issues.
Mr. Roughley and his wife, Isabel, have lived in Bradford for 30 years. They have a daughter, a son and three grandchildren.
Mr. Roughley has a degree in business administration from the University of Regina.
He served in the Royal Canadian Air Force for four years, then joined the RCMP, from which he retired in 1982.
He served as co-ordinator and professor of the law and security administration and police foundation programs at Georgian College for 20 years.
Mr. Roughley served as a councillor for Bradford for six years prior to amalgamation and a councillor for Bradford West Gwillimbury for six years after amalgamation.
He has served as deputy mayor since 2000 and was Simcoe County warden in 2005.
He is chairperson of the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Board, a director at Southlake Regional Health Centre, president of the Georgian Bay division of the RCMP Veterans’ Association and a member of the Bradford Legion, among other roles.
Rob Keffer
Mr. Keffer said the public needs more of a voice at both the town and county levels.
“I want to put the future of our town in the hands of the people, not in the hands of consultants,” he said. “Bradford West Gwillimbury residents pay the highest property taxes in the county, and that will only get worse if we continue at the present pace of unprecedented growth.”
As part of this philosophy, Mr. Keffer said town council needs to be more open to the ideas of individual councillors.
“It appears the mayor and deputy mayor are setting the direction,” he said, adding he wants to make use of each councillor’s expertise.
To keep property taxes in line, Mr. Keffer said the town must be fiscally responsible.
“As a private businessman who happens to work in the agriculture field, I realize how important it is to make sure income and expenses balance so the bottom line is strong,” he said.
“The current increases in property taxes from new houses hardly covers the increased payroll costs for the new full-time positions created under the (Mayor Doug) White/Roughley administration,” he said.
Mr. Keffer also raised traffic congestion as an issue, noting the town has several roads under construction at once.
“It shows a disregard for the taxpayers and residents of Bradford,” he said.
“More thought should have been given to the sequence of construction so people who are taxpayers aren’t inconvenienced as much.”
Mr. Keffer noted the importance of the Holland Marsh to the local economy and said the canal reconstruction project is a good thing, but the cost of the project must be watched closely.
Mr. Keffer has lived in Bradford for 53 years.
He and his wife, Jean, have two sons and one daughter, all in their 20s.
Mr. Keffer has a bachelor of science degree in agriculture from the University of Guelph.
He serves as chairperson of the Simcoe County Milk Producers, a director of the South Simcoe Soil and Crop Association, a representative on the Simcoe County Federation of Agriculture and a trustee of Bond Head United Church, among other roles in the community.