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Veteran city hall reporter joins BarrieToday news team

'The knowledge of city issues he brings to the table is unmatched,' says BarrieToday editor
2020-09-17 Bob Bruton high-res crop
Bob Bruton will be covering city hall and municipal politics for BarrieToday.

A well-known face around Barrie City Hall is back on the beat covering municipal politics. 

Bob Bruton has joined the BarrieToday news team as our city hall reporter. 

Bruton brings a wealth of knowledge to the role, having covered city hall for Barrie's former daily newspaper, the Barrie Examiner, for close to three decades. 

He says he's excited to get back to delivering the news people need to hear.

“Covering city hall for BarrieToday means I will be in the thick of municipal politics again,” he said. “I’m interested in not only the issues, but the people I will meet along the way.

“My stories for BarrieToday should not only tell city residents what they want to know about their municipal government, but what they need to know," Bruton added. 

What happens at city hall affects people's lives on a daily basis, and Bruton wants to help keep people informed about those decisions.

“As they always say, ‘municipal politics is closest to the people’ and it deserves their attention — from pothole repair projects and no-parking zones to intensified housing projects and what residents get for their inevitable property tax increases each year," Bruton said. 

The Parry Sound native began his newspaper career as a sports/news reporter and photographer in 1982 with the Strathroy Age-Dispatch, near London, Ont. He came to Barrie in 1985 to work in the Examiner’s sports department.

In 1988, Bruton made the move to the newsroom and began covering city hall, writing editorials, columns, and features until the paper closed in November 2017. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Western University. 

Community editor Raymond Bowe says Bruton's addition to the news team will only help strengthen BarrieToday's commitment to its coverage of the city. 

"Having worked with Bob for many years at the Examiner, I know exactly what he brings to the table," Bowe said. "He's one of the best reporters I've worked with in my 20 years in journalism. He's extremely thorough and knows how to chase down a story.

"The knowledge of city issues he brings to the table is unmatched."