Lamb runs for a third term Parry Sound North Star WHITESTONE TWP. - Joe Lamb has submitted his papers to run for a third term as councillor in Whitestone. “I have enjoyed my eight years on council and initially felt that I might want to take a break, but after discussions with my family and input and encouragement from many ratepayers I have decided to run again,” said Lamb. “I am proud of my record on council, people know and respect that I am a fiscal conservative who speaks his mind and tries very hard to respect the opinions and interests of all ratepayers both year round and seasonal on issues that come before council. Balancing decisions based on the interests of all ratepayers can sometimes be challenging. “The bottom line is that taxes in Whitestone for the average household are lower now than four years ago. I would like to see any other community that can make a similar claim. With the new OPP billing formula being recently made public our costs are going to significantly increase over the term of a new council and it is very important that we continue to find savings and efficiencies in our budget to prevent or mitigate large future tax increases” Lamb said that the last four years on council have not been easy and in his opinion the current council has handled some difficult situations and issues. “Although in my mind council may have ultimately reached some good final decisions sometimes it was a long, arduous and costly journey to get there,” he said. “Also some of the issues related to personnel matters that are difficult to discuss publicly for confidentially reasons. I look forward to clarifying my position on some of these matters during the campaign.” During the last council term, employees in Whitestone unionized. A new collective agreement needs to be negotiated. “It is very important that we negotiate an agreement that respects the employees’ decision to unionize but also protects the interests and costs to the municipality and ratepayers,” he said. “I spent my working life in human resources, including holding executive level positions and have been responsible for negotiations of many collective agreements from the management perspective. I have looked at many of the agreements in other communities and if we are not very careful in how we handle these negotiations, the ramifications in terms of working conditions and costs to the Community could be huge. I do not want to burden the taxpayers of Whitestone with some the contracts that are in place in other communities. If I am re-elected I will use all my knowledge and experience to ensure this does not occur to the good people of Whitestone.” Lamb said he looks forward to debate on other issues and topics in the upcoming election including road conditions, the road grant system, rental properties, and policing. parrysound/news-story/4870216-lamb-runs-for-a-third-term/
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 15:16:21 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015