Candidates for Midland Deputy Mayor

Simcoe.com September 30 2010
MIDLAND – All of the municipal candidates were offered the same opportunity to provide a 150-word statement to The Mirror.
Ruth Hackney – Our municipality has had consistent assessment growth of approximately two per cent per year over the past five years.
We are working with our neighbours at the county level to have Midland designated as a growth node. Without having this designation, we may not be eligible for funding from the provincial and federal governments.
We need to continue to look at ways to reduce taxes for our residents. We have seniors on fixed income, families working two or three jobs and raising young families. These people depend on us to make responsible decisions with respect to setting tax rates.
Water quality and waste management are issues we continue to deal with. Maintaining our excellent water quality is essential. Waste management remains an ongoing issue; just because Site 41 was stopped does not mean we can set aside the issues.
This is our environment; we must preserve it for future generations.
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Stephan Martin Kramp – We are facing one of the most challenging economic downturns since the Great Depression. I know people who have lost their jobs, and there are reports of empty homes and businesses throughout the town.
I was a volunteer for the North Simcoe Community Futures Development Corporation’s Business Retention and Expansion study. These studies, and others in the past from this organization, have made excellent recommendations for economic development in our area. We need a leadership team that will drive these recommendations forward and develop an economic strategy.
We need to attract our talented and educated young people back to Midland to help build the economy we need to sustain our quality of life. We can do this by creating a vibrant, culture-rich environment that brings our future home.
Many communities have beaten the economic trends and created economic growth in their communities. We have the smarts in Midland to do it, too.