The highly-anticipated council meeting to appoint a new Ward 6 councillor ended with Steve Trotter’s experience and Ward residency paying off.
Trotter was selected to represent Ward 6 last night after 31 candidates — it was 32 but one had withdrawn his name — each spoke to why they would be best suited for the job. In the end it took two rounds of voting and a close second round vote had Trotter defeat Lynn Strachan by a tally of 5-4. Strachan also has years of political experience but Trotter believes his extensive knowledge of the Ward is what gave him the nod.
“I think in this case it was imperative that council appoint someone with vast knowledge of Ward 6 and at least some experience in municipal politics,” said Trotter. “I will say though that anyone of the people that put their name forward and spoke could have done an admiral job; the challenge really is the amount of time left in the term and I think that was the deciding factor.”
Trotter was councillor of Ward 6 (later 7 after realignment) from 1994 to 2006.
Ward 6 was left vacant when former councillor Michael Prowse was hired to be the city’s CAO. Trotter will serve until the next city election, which is November 30 2018. To be able to hit the ground running was the key in this appointment and Trotter mentioned that in his five minutes to address council earlier in the night.
“I look at this opportunity much like a trade deadline day,” said Trotter. “Council is already running and running efficiently, and now they need that extra piece to help round out the team. I am that extra piece and bring a lot of benefits with me as it concerns the Ward I have served before and have long lived in.”
Like many of the candidates who spoke, Trotter mentioned traffic congestion in the area as a point of concern. Ward 9 councillor Sergio Morales said that his ears perked up every time one of the people speaking mentioned a concern they have about the area.
“Absolutely it was something I made sure to pay attention to,” said Morales. “On top of having to appoint a new councillor we also had the chance to listen to 31 people and what they feel should be done to better that Ward. That is the job here, above all else, is to listen to the people in our city and try our best to give them what they want and need.”
Back on June 20, council voted 6-4 to appoint a new member rather than hold an election due to the time constraints. Councillor Mike McCann was one of the four who wanted an election and still wasn’t pleased someone was appointed but was happy about the turnout.
“I’m happy with the final candidate absolutely,” said McCann. “Councillor Trotter has a long history of experience and a long history of dealing with council here and we are a team. I thought this process wasn’t great but it’s the process we have and it’s governed provincially and not municipally so we can’t have too much say in it. That said, I was very proud to be from Barrie tonight with so many people coming out and flexing their rights for their city. It got my juices flowing to run next year and I’ll probably be running against some of the folks here tonight.”
Of the over 30 who put their names up for councillor there were many different types of occupations and walks of life. There were backgrounds in real estate, journalism, teachers, police officers, financial officers, sports and event managers and retirees who feel they have the time and know the area better than most. Mayor Jeff Lehman was overjoyed at how the night went and was seen smiling throughout the speeches.
“I thought this was a show of force of Barrie’s political engagement here tonight,” said Lehman. “The speeches were tremendous as they got people thinking, it got us thinking in different directions about the issues in that area. I should mention too that it was interesting having seen the packages the last few days and going over all the information some popped out; then those who may not have stuck out on paper certainly did well tonight in terms of their speeches and how thoughtful they were. Ultimately though this was in the end an issue for time and experience and the fact that the candidate has one year to catch up with what’s happening and has to be able to grab the ball immediately and run with it.”
Final ballots in favour of Trotter were Lehman, Morales, McCann, Bonnie Ainsworth and Barry Ward.
