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Steve Clarke running for mayor of Orillia

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In Candidates / Election 2014
Apr 23rd, 2014
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By Michael McClymont Orillia Packet & Times 

Orillia – A throng of supporters filled the lobby at Orillia city hall as Steve Clarke made official his intention to run for mayor of the city.

The local businessman filed his election papers Wednesday morning at city hall and became the city’s first mayoral candidate in this fall’s municipal election.

He said, in the past, running for mayor of the city was never an item on his bucket list, but he has received a groundswell of encouragement in previous years to consider it.

“It’s been very confirming and very overwhelming because, quite frankly, and the reason I’m running is I love this city. I think it’s a gem,” Clarke said to the gathered crowd.

He listed its defining characteristics — “two beautiful lakes, a waterfront that many other municipalities are envious of, beautiful heritage downtown, a historic icon in the opera house, a new library, an award-winning hospital, vibrant west Orillia and two post-secondary educational institutions in Georgian College and Lakehead University” — as features that set it apart from other cities.

“Those things are terrific, but above all that, I love the people in this city and in this community and I hope that, to some degree, I’ve demonstrated that over the last 20-plus years,” he said. “To be able to do that in a leadership level in the city, quite frankly, it excites me.”

Clarke and his wife, Chris Marsh, have owned the Brewery Bay Food Co. restaurant since 1993. He is a past winner of the William (Bill) Swinimer Business Leader of the Year award and was named Citizen of the Year in 2012.

He is also known as a member of 174 is So Much More and the former West Street Makes Sense, groups that have pushed for a recreation centre in downtown Orillia. He did not shy away from the hot topic.

“I was very fortunate to be part of a group that really had no ego. All we really wanted to do was what we thought was in the best interests of all of Orillia and the only goal of that group effort was to get what we thought was a viable option in front of city council for serious consideration and that happened on Feb. 26,” he said, citing Orillia council’s decision to research a potential partnership with Tribal Partners to build a recreation centre on West Street.

“Now, it’s in the hands of the city and the developer and the advisers each has hired. It’s up to them to work it out now and I believe that they can do it.”

As part of his campaign platform, Clarke said he will push for economic development.

“There are numerous ways we can do that. The West Street project that I’ve been involved with, one of the potential benefits of that is creating four or five hundred well-paying jobs that will be a strong signal to welcome to or welcome back to our community young people,” Clarke said. “As a parent, and I’ve spoken to other parents, they are tired of seeing their children leave for economic and career opportunities elsewhere.”

He also pointed to the industrial park in west Orillia and the Huronia Regional Centre land as terrific assets for community development.

When asked if he would hold to a previously stated goal of bringing a community centre to downtown Orillia, he said, “I will support any project that I believe the evidence says it will be a benefit to the community.”

Clarke expressed concern with the city’s current relationships with the OPP and local townships. He considers himself a consensus builder and facilitator and part of his mandate, if elected, would be to mend those relationships.

“We’re very fortunate not just to have an OPP detachment in town and a regional headquarters; we also have the general headquarters. It’s the largest employer in the city, they’re a wonderful asset and resource, they’re strong cultural supporters and certainly are an economic driver in the community and I will work hard to repair what I think are strained relations between the city and the OPP,” Clarke said. “As well, the surrounding townships are also partners. Maybe the citizens in those areas don’t get a vote in Orillia, but they should have a say. They come into the city, they get their hair cut, their meals, they buy their cars, they are terrific economic drivers in our community and we need to reach out to them.”

Clarke is no stranger to elections. He ran as a Simcoe North federal Liberal candidate in 2008 and 2011 and was defeated on both occasions by current MP Bruce Stanton.

Despite the defeats, Clarke remains positive of his chances municipally.

“I do not want to belittle what women go through, but even my lovely wife, who gave birth four times, after each one would say, ‘I can’t go through that again,’ but once you get out of that process for a little while and you realize the wonderful support you had, the dynamics that were in play, it really is a terrific experience,” he said. “The reason I’m back in it this time is the overwhelming support from all walks of life, from all political stripes. The support has shown itself in many different ways.”

Clarke had mulled a return to politics for the past eight to 10 months and he said he filed in the spring to give himself a chance to do some campaigning before the summer.

“We thought this was a good time. Spring is in the air, change is in the air,” he said.

Clarke said his campaign team is “pretty much filled out” with two campaign managers, a financial agent and communications head. They will eye a campaign office “sometime down the road.”

As of Wednesday, the only other candidates for this fall’s election are Donald Porter and Mike Chatzikyriakos in Ward 1 and John Cargoe in Ward 3.

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