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Bradford council says it will be collaborative, no nonsense

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In Bradford West Gwillimbury
Dec 23rd, 2014
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By Dominik Kurek Bradford West Gwillimbury Topic

The new members of Bradford West Gwillimbury council are eager to do the work that is needed to get the job done for you.

Council was sworn in Dec. 2 and had its first regular meeting Dec. 16, but the nine members spent time together well before that, including at an intensive two-day orientation to prepare them for the work ahead.

Already, members of the new council, which features four out of nine new members, are saying this is a collaborative group with a shared vision.

New councillor Peter Ferragine said he’s extremely confident this group will be able to get the job done for the residents.

“Council has great camaraderie already. We all get along really well. We just all respect each others’ opinions and I think it’s going to work really well,” he said.

The word collaboration was echoed by members of council, something that previous councillor and current deputy mayor James Leduc said will be the difference between the next four years from the last four years.

“Council has a new agenda, new ideas, collaboration and excitement. This council is exciting. It’s going to be a lot of fun,” he said.

Newly elected councillor Ron Orr said his colleagues share a vision of a balanced budget and a better town, not a bigger town.

“We have to move ahead, but we’re going to do it in a fiscally responsible way,” he said.

Leduc said the town needs to attract jobs to Bradford. To do so, it will have to make it affordable for businesses to come here and will require a good transportation network. These elements should be on council’s strategic plan, Leduc said, and will require a team effort and respect for tax dollars to accomplish.

Councillor, Gary Baynes, also newly elected, has a slogan for the new council that spells out what council will do and how it will do it: ACTION (accountability, collaboration, transparency, integrity, optimistic, no BS).

“We’re all looking forward. There will be a lot of collaboration with this council to get things done,” he said.

“I think this council is going to get the job done,” Ferragine added. “What they say they’re going to do, they’re going to do. They’re going to be very involved. They’ve already started showing they want to be involved with a lot of the community events.”

Council also includes newly elected Mark Contois, who had served as councillor in the past, as well as returning members Raj Sandhu, Gary Lamb, Peter Dykie Jr. and new mayor Rob Keffer, who served as deputy mayor in the last term.

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