TIME FOR A CHANGE

By MORGAN IAN ADAMS Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin December 3 2010
COLLINGWOOD — On Monday morning, everything changes.
At 10 a.m., Sandra Cooper will officially be sworn in as Collingwood’s 42nd mayor, the first woman to hold the title in the town’s 152-year history.
In taking the chain of office, she’ll also be carrying on a long family legacy of political service: her brother, Paul Bonwick, was the area’s Member of Parliament for six years, and a town councillor for two years before that ; her father, Jack Bonwick, elected as a town councillor in 1963, but was unsuccessful in unseating Mel McKean for the Reeve position in the 1965 election. He has also been politically active with the Liberal Party.
Cooper was first elected as a councillor in 1997, and has two terms under her belt as deputy-mayor.
“All of my family is very proud of what I’ve accomplished,” Cooper said in an interview with the Enterprise-Bulletin. “Even starting out as a councillor in 1997, I didn’t consider that down the road I would be mayor.
“You always have to test the waters first, and see if you want to dedicate part of your life (to public service),” she said.
Since being elected on Oct. 25 — by a significant margin at that, with 67% of voters casting a ballot in her favour — Cooper has turned her mind to the next four years. She’ll be at the head of a table of eight men, four of whom are newcomers to politics (though it could be argued that broadcaster Dale West is as familiar as anyone with local issues, as is former fire chief Sandy Cunningham), and two — Rick Lloyd and Joe Gardhouse — who have not sat at the council table for the last four years.
“I’m humbled by it, and very excited about the next four years being Collingwood’s first female mayor,” she said. “But I never thought about being the first woman; I was just working on being the next mayor of Collingwood.”
And as for dealing with an all-male council, Cooper just shrugs her shoulders: “I’ll just stand my ground.”
Cooper has already met with members of the new council on an individual basis, and has been impressed by their enthusiasm. For the last two weeks, councillors-elect have been given tours of municipal facilities, and Cooper noted that throughout the tours, “they’re all very keen to learn.
“I’ve found that to be very positive,” she said. “They’re very interesting in what’s happening, and I see that they will come to the table very pre-pared.
 “They’re asking questions, and they have fresh ideas.”
The new council will need to be prepared, as the expectation is there’s a couple of issues that will be dealt with right away.
The first, said Cooper, will be the issue of restaurant patio location on the main street, as well as the business licensing bylaw which was only approved a scant five months ago.
Several issues have come up with that bylaw, including the requirement that any businessowner who puts merchandise out in the area across the sidewalk from their store is required to have a tent.
Cooper also wants to start the process of revisiting the Admiral Collingwood Place development, which came to a grinding halt nearly four years ago after the current council rescinded the approval for the project’s Heritage Impact Assessment.
In spite of negotiations between the town and developer Steve Assaff that resulted in a compromise on the design and a five-storey height limit, the project has not progressed beyond the point of being a water-filled hole at the foot of the main business area.
Earlier this year, Assaff blamed current mayor Chris Carrier for the failure of the development to move ahead, noting the mayor’s “hidden agenda” delayed his project to the point that it was caught in the economic meltdown.
However, Cooper acknowledged, it’s not as simple as saying, ‘yes, the development can happen’.
“It will be complicated,” she said. “But we have to take the first step. It may be (Assaff ) brings forward a fresh perspective on the project, but we will work closely, and council will be kept in the loop.”
Council will also have to work quickly to review–and comment on — the county’s growth plan. The province has given municipalities under the end of February — a month’s extension on the deadline set two weeks ago — to comment.
Collingwood has been designated by the province as one of six growth areas within the county–though population allocation numbers will still likely leave the municipality chafing at the bit as it attempts to move residential development proposals through the system.
With that review, said Cooper, will also come the start of a revamp of the town’s own official plan. The last one was passed in 2004, and official plans are required to be reviewed every five years.
Financially, said Cooper, the council will have to “let the dust settle” and gauge the effect debenture payments will have on the town’s operational budget. The town’s debenture debt has swollen from around $20 million to around $45 million; while the payments will be covered by development charges, and sewer and water levies, it will also mean a 4% increase in the 2012 budget — money that comes from general tax revenues.
However, in spite of the financial obstacles, council will need to review the town’s recreation needs on a short-and medium-term basis. That means reviewing the roof for the outdoor rink, and the future of the town-owned fitness facility on Napier Street.
It may mean taking a different look at how the municipality delivers recreational services in the future, said Cooper.
“The key in moving ahead is private/public partnerships,” she said, adding the town “has to be more proactive” about pursing possible facility partnerships.
During the campaign, Cooper was critical of the leadership style of the current mayor, and promised to respect the positions of other council members.
“It’s not possible for everyone to agree, but we need to show respect for everyone’s opinion,” she said. “Everyone who is elected represents a segment of the community.”