Growth top issue in Adjala-Tosorontio municipal election

By Brad Pritchard Alliston Herald

ADJALA-TOSORONTIO – The two candidates running for mayor of Adjala-Tosorontio can agree on one thing: growth will likely be the number one challenge facing the new council.

Mary Small Brett, who is the current deputy mayor, believes it will come down to balancing properly planned growth with the agricultural roots of the community.

“I’m in favour of planning growth well,” she said. “Growth is inevitable and we need to plan for it and plan for long-term growth that will address the needs of today and demands of tomorrow.”

Small Brett, a member of council for 14 years, said she would stay the course on the Everett Secondary Plan, a proposal that would see the hamlet drastically redeveloped over the next 30 years and beyond.

“We don’t want sporadic growth that doesn’t have a well laid out plan for it,” she said of the plan, which is still before the county for review.

Her opponent, former councillor Leo Losereit, believes the growth plan needs to go back to the drawing board.

“This council has really pushed hard for urban sprawl and that goes smack against -rovincial policy statement,” he said.

Losereit said he would revisit the hamlet’s previous secondary plan and would work with local developers to grow the community at a much slower rate.

“We take pride in our rural character and I think this election is going to be whether we accept outside development to dictate what we look like in the future or do we remain how we are a develop at a slower pace,” he said.

The issue of community engagement is another area the candidates are focusing on.

Small Brett is calling for an inclusive review of the town’s strategic plan.

“I’m very much looking at a formal process for us to revisit our strategic plan and involve all levels of the community, business, volunteers, residents, so they can have a voice in what their community and Adjala-Tosorontio is going to look like as it goes forward,” she said.

Losereit said the township needs to do a better job working with residents, especially when it comes to recreational planning.

“I think we need to be a little more engaged with community groups rather than turn them away,” he said. “We need to embrace volunteerism in our community rather than turn them away.”

Small Brett said maintaining financial stability at town hall would remain a top priority under her watch.

“There’s a great balance between what we want, what we need and what we can afford,” she said. “You can have anything you want if you are willing to pay for it.”

Losereit, meanwhile, is pushing for accountability changes, like having all council meetings recorded and making the full council agendas available on the website.

“There needs to be some sort of accounting of our minutes rather than generalities, because we have no idea where council sits on various subject matter and quite frankly it’s shameful that I have to go to another municipality to find out what our municipality is doing,” he said.