City council had to go full stealth mode to sneak this one past chief administrative officer Michael Prowse.
So much so, in fact, that recognizing the CAO for his 13-year tenure on council was omitted from the meeting’s agenda.
The ruse even went so far as his wife, Karen, texting him feigning to be at home when she happened to be behind him in the gallery along with their children.
“If he knew (this presentation) was coming, he’d have done everything to stop it,” Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman joked.
Prowse served for more than a decade on council, representing the interests of Ward 6 residents. During that time, he also successfully chaired the finance committee for six years from 2011 to 2017.
“All six of those budgets were unanimous votes,” the mayor said. “That is just unprecedented in our history, in Ontario’s history, because of the degree of work that Coun. Prowse did to bring council together.”
To further hammer home his point and what “an incredible accomplishment that is,” Lehman noted that Standard & Poors even mentioned it in its city credit-rating report.
“All of our residents in the city have benefitted from Mike’s pragmatism around the table and his efforts at budget time,” Lehman said. “That saves them real dollars right in their household budgets, right on their property tax bills.
“Most of all, it was always about the best thing for the residents of Barrie, the best thing for the city,” he added. “Coun. Prowse always put the City of Barrie above everything else, so I want to thank you for your leadership over the years. It was a privilege to serve with you on city council.”
Prowse resigned his council seat when was hired as CAO last summer.
“Mr. Prowse was, of course, a longtime city councillor and it is our long-standing tradition … that when a councillor leaves city council, either for retirement or for some other reason, that we present them with a few little gifts,” Lehman said. “But not before embarrassing them.”
Coun. Barry Ward did a little research and was able to dig up Prowse’s first appearance before council. Prowse was a local resident complaining to councillors about the proposed extension of Ferndale Drive.
Ward, who is one of only two councillors still around the table from that time (the other being Bonnie Ainsworth), read Prowse’s presentation from Feb. 17, 2003, to council. At the time, Prowse said a number of goals outlined in the city’s Official Plan were being ignored and sacrificing wetlands was not acceptable.
Prowse even went so far as to suggest a recorded vote “so that residents would know who voted for a road over the safety of children and the environment.”
The Ferndale Drive extension eventually went through, but it ended up launching Prowse’s political career as it convinced him to do more for the city he called home.
“On a personal level, there’s probably no councillor I’ve become closer to during my time on council than Michael Prowse and his wife, Karen,” Ward said. “They became good friends of ours. I think it just shows that, despite your differences, no matter what, you can overcome those differences and actually work together.”
Prowse was presented with a Ferndale Drive street sign, a painting featuring ships in Chesapeake Bay as a nod to his love of history, as well as a copy of his original deputation request on the agenda from 2003.
“I’m always a big fan of these ambush announcements until I got caught in the crosshairs,” Prowse said. “It’s not as much fun when you see (old) pictures and you actually had hair.”
Prowse thanked his wife and family, as well as his many colleagues at city hall.
“My wife and I, we live in Barrie by choice,” he said, adding he grew up in Toronto and also lived in Newmarket. “When we were starting our family, we chose Barrie. We didn’t have to move here, I didn’t work here, we could have lived anywhere in Ontario, quite candidly. The city of Barrie spoke to us. We chose this place, this community, to raise our family.”
Prowse said he and his family recently moved, but leaving the city limits was never an option.
“The city of Barrie will always have a larger place in my heart,” he said.
Going back more than a decade, Prowse said his start in politics was an interesting one.
“Anybody who gets involved in this municipality on a day-to-day basis can make a difference,” he said of this opposition to the Ferndale Drive extension. “I took that opportunity. Instead of being bitter and jaded and complaining about things, I decided I would stand opposed, as they say.”
Prowse said serving the city is “a commitment and a passion. You’re either fully in or fully out.”
He said everything he has done in his life he did for his family, but wouldn’t have been able to without his wife’s support, such as taking their kids to hockey. He referred to her as “my biggest critic and my biggest champion.”
“There’s a lot of family events you miss,” Prowse said. “They spend a lot of time living in a different family dynamic.”
The CAO says he’s looking forward to seeing how the city will continue to grow in the coming decades.
