New council to be installed tonight, 2011 budget first priority

New Tecumseth Free Press Online December 1, 2010
New Tecumseth’s eighth new crew of councillors since the 1991 amalgamation of Alliston, Beeton, Tecumseth and Tottenham, will be sworn in at a ceremony tonight starting at 7 pm in the council chambers in Alliston.
The new 10-member council, which is one larger than the outgoing group of nine, are led by Mike MacEachern, who will become the Town’s first mayor to serve three consecutive terms after taking the oath of office.
This will be Deputy Mayor Rick Milne’s sixth council term since 1991, including two stints as mayor – one elected in 1994-97. Mr. Milne is no longer the last holdover from one of the originating municiaplities. The former mayor of Alliston at amalgamation now shares that connection with Ward 3 councillor Paul Whiteside, who crosses the floor from his previous life as director of finance for New Tecumseth and clerk/treasurer of Alliston.
Ward 1 councillor Bob Marrs returns to council after a one term break, Ward 2 councillor Jamie Smith, Ward 4 councillor Fran Sainsbury, a two-time former mayor of Stouffville and Clearview, Ward 5 Donna Jebb, also returns after a two-term break, Ward 6 councillor Richard Norcross, Ward 7 councillor Bruce Haire, part-owner and retired editor of the New Tecumseth Times, and Ward 8 councillor Jim Stone, round out the new council which will serve until October 2014.
The group met on Monday for 8.5 hours to hear “a broad overview of each department’s current projects and what they expected as being challenges and opportunities,” wrote mayor MacEachern in an email reply for this story. “It was also an opportunity to give clear and accurate information as to where the municipality is as this sometimes gets lost during an election.”
Council hasn’t met with a full agenda since Aug. 30, and resumes with the first committee meeting on Monday.
“The (2011) budget will be the first real priority,” noted the mayor. “The next will be planning issues. I hope to have a session early in January where we will review the strategic plan for the municipality and look at what the priorities will be. This should all tie back to the budget and where we focus the resources of the municipality.”
As for citizen expectations from a new council, which for the first time since 2003 will not include, Christine Brayford, Dennis Egan, Barb Huson, and Jess Prothero, Mr. MacEachern said they’re always high.
“The group, not unlike each council before, has a desire to work hard for the Town. It is a seasoned group with a lot of experience.”