Full steam ahead for new council

By BOB BRUTON BARRIE EXAMINER December 7 2010
And so it begins again.
Barrie’s new city council was officially sworn in Monday, marking the start of its 2010-2014 term of office.
“Welcome to a new day in Barrie,” said Mayor Jeff Lehman to a standing-room-only crowd in the council chambers. “The election was a loud and clear message for a new direction. We now have an opportunity to move the city forward.”
Lehman and Ward 1 Coun. Bonnie Ainsworth, Ward 2 Coun. Lynn Strachan, Ward 3 Coun. Doug Shipley, Ward 4 Coun. Barry Ward, Ward 5 Coun. Peter Silveira, Ward 6 Coun. Michael Prowse, Ward 7 Coun. John Brassard, Ward 8 Coun. Jennifer Robinson, Ward 9 Coun. Brian Jackson and Ward 10 Coun. Alex Nuttall were all elected in the Oct. 25 municipal election.
“It’s now time to get down to business. We have a lot of work to do,” Lehman said. “We have been elected to move the city forward together.””This is a special moment in time, a time of opportunity,” said Jackson, who has just finished 13 years as Innisfil mayor and six as a town councillor there.
“There are some who have called this election a watershed,” Lehman said. “But if it is truly to be a watershed, this council will need to deliver on the promise of positive change that Barrie residents now expect.”
He outlined three priorities for his new council.
First is planning for the next stage in Barrie’s growth, on the former Innisfil land in the city south-end, and through intensification. This includes a revitalized downtown, and Lehman hopes to convert the Barrie Bus Terminal to a permanent food market.
Lehman also wants the downtown to have a post-secondary school presence.
He plans to put the city on a new economic path, in terms of job creation in Barrie.
“Three of four new jobs in any community are created by businesses that are already located there,” Lehman said. “We need to identify and remove barriers to business expansion.”
And the new mayor wants to forge a new relationship between this council and the people who elected it.
“We must open up city hall to residents, to get them involved in decisions earlier, get out into neighbourhoods to understand local issues, and use new ways of reaching people,” he said.
Lehman plans to have an open mike portion of city council meetings and revamp the city’s committee system.
He noted council has 26 separate advisory committees and Lehman said he has 17 changes to recommend to streamline some, wind some up and expand citizen involvement in others.
He noted that council must make decisions not just for now, but for the future.
“I want to shape a city for my daughter that will offer her every opportunity in life,” Lehman said. “This can be a place where the next generation finds everything they need to live a full and fulfilling life.”
Willard Kinzie, Barrie mayor during the late 1950s, spoke on behalf of the former city mayors in attendance — Ross Archer (1977-1988) and Janice Laking (1989-2000).
“Don’t be afraid to make the bold moves you have described,” he said to the new council.
“The torch has been passed on to you. Go!”
“I think we can do great things over the next four years,” said Ward, the longest-serving Barrie councillor, entering his fourth straight term on council.
Brassard, back for a second term on council, said it all begins at the top, with Lehman.
“This city was looking for a leader who would lift the city on his shoulders and I think we have that,” Brassard said.
Lehman was Ward 2 councillor for the last four years before winning the mayor’s chair in October. Shipley, Silveira, Robinson and Jackson are newcomers to this council, while Ainsworth returns after a seven-year break.
Prowse is back for his third term — as is Strachan, after two terms as Ward 5 councillor. Nuttall returns for his second term
Barrie’s very first mayor after it was incorporated, Willard Kinzie (1957-69), offers new mayor Jeff Lehman and members of council his congratulations.