As expected, Centre Wellington Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj was elected warden here for a second term on Dec. 4. She was unopposed.
Ross-Zuj thanked council for its faith in her leadership and noted the county has been “a busy place” over the past year.
She cited projects such as the early learning centre in Mount Forest, the renovation of the Carnegie library in Elora, the archives addition at the Wellington County Museum, the library work in Mount Forest that will soon be completed and 55 units of social housing that are nearing completion in the north end of Fergus.
But, Ross-Zuj said, council will have to take a hard look at its spending over the next year.
She said the economy is on the minds of everyone, and the federal and provincial governments have stated the infrastructure spending that was used to stimulate the economy for the past year is now being shut off.
She said the chairmen of the county’s various committees will now start taking a long look at budgets in Wellington, and, “increasing taxes is not a viable option.”
Ross-Zuj said the committees will have to decide where they can find a balance between services they provide to “not impact our ratepayers to any great extent.”
The warden said in a later interview that if the county decides to proceed with all of its currently approved projects in its five-year plan for 2010, the budget increase would be 5.1%.
“The focus has got to be on the economy,” Ross-Zuj said of budget talks. “Ottawa and Queen’s Park have told us they have no more money. The door is closed and the vault’s locked.”
She noted there is one last grant opportunity with a deadline of Dec. 15, and that is all there will be for stimulus funding.
Ross-Zuj said the county will face particularly difficult challenges. She said many people on Employment Insurance are running out of eligibility, and are being forced to turn to Ontario Works, the welfare system.
“We’re bracing ourselves,” she said, adding the committees and their chairmen will have to ask themselves “Is this the time to be doing these [five year plan] projects?”
She said there are several mayors who have already told her they are unhappy with the county’s 5.1% projected budget increase.
“That’s a starting point,” she said of the budget talks.
Chairmen unopposed
The chairman of the county council committees were also unopposed this year.
The chairmen are:
– Chris White, administration, finance and personnel;
– Brad Whitcombe, information, seniors and heritage, which also includes the library board;
– Walter Trachsel, planning and land division committee;
– Linda White, Police Services Board;
– Rod Finnie, roads;
– Gord Tosh, social services; and
– Bob Wilson, solid waste services.
County council strikes its committees
Wellington County council struck its committees on Dec. 4.
Earlier in the day, councillors unanimously named the committee chairmen, and there were no elections for any of the positions.
Warden Joanne Ross-Zuj is a member of all committees. The committees, with the chairman named first, are:
– administration, finance, and personnel, Chris White, John Green, Gord Tosh, and David Anderson;
– information, seniors, and heritage, Brad Whitcombe, Jean Innes, Mike Broomhead, and Mark MacKenzie;
– planning and land division, Walter Trachsel, Barb McKay, Green, and Carl Hall;
– Police Services Board, Lynda White, Jim Connell, Linda Austen, and Russ Spicer;
– roads, Rod Finnie, McKay, Anderson, and Bob Wilson;
– social services (jointly shared with Guelph) Gord Tosh, Lou Maieron, and Innes;
– solid waste services, Bob Wilson, MacKenzie, Trachsel, and Chris White.
The warden’s advisory committee is ad hoc, and it consists of the warden and the chairmen of the committees.
The library board is a statutory part of the information, heritage, and seniors committee. The members on that committee join citizen appointees Sherry Clarke, Jamie Couper, Debbie Cudney, and Sheila Gamble.
The county has councillors sitting on numerous agencies boards and commissions in the area. Those appointments include:
– Guelph General Hospital commission, Tosh;
– St. Joseph’s Health Care board, McKay;
– Groves Memorial Community Hospital, Hall;
– Family and Children’s Services of Guelph and Wellington, Innes;
– Board of Health, Warden Joanne Ross-Zuj, Green and Innes;
– Wellington Federation of Agriculture, Hall;
– MacDonald Stewart Art Centre, McKay;
– Wellington County Plowmen’s Association, Trachsel;
– doctor’s recruitment, Chris White;
– Centre 2000 management board, Maieron;
– Guelph Business Enterprise Centre, Finnie;
– accessibility advisory committee, Ross-Zuj, Green, and MacKenzie;
– district health council, Wilson; and
– Green Legacy, Whitcombe and Trachsel.
