John was born in London, England, immigrated to Canada in 1989, and moved to Chatham-Kent in 1990.
Married to Angela for 40 years, they have two daughters Caroline and Elizabeth.
After working at Union Gas for almost 10 years, John lost his job during corporate restructuring in late 1999. After a number of temp jobs, John founded Ace Taxi in 2005 and continues operating it today.
As mayor he wants to work to reduce property taxes, initially by finding savings within budgets, and in the longer term by closely examining what we do, how we do it and seeing if it can be done cheaper.
He wants to change the structure of council and move to a more committee-based model with six functional committees and six ward committees. These committees will decide the agenda, not administration.
Would you support a tax freeze or rollback if it meant reduced staff or services?
Yes. To achieve a tax freeze or rollback, once the saving in each departments budget are used, then without an increase in the tax base it will mean reduced staff or services.
Would you support an OPP costing study?
Yes. When Chatham-Kent was formed the transition committee choose a CKPS over the OPP. I support the CKPS but I feel that getting an OPP costing study is the best way to end this ongoing CKPS v OPP debate once and forever. If the OPP cost comes in lower than that proposed by CKPS then the OPP’s cost should be the CKPS budget for the period the study covers.
Would you support examining a volunteer-only fire service if the provincial arbitration system isn’t overhauled?
No. Wallaceburg operates with a mixture of full time and part time (volunteer) firefighters; this could be a model for Stations 1 and 2 (Chatham).
Do you believe we should continue our ongoing efforts to attract economic investment from China?
No. If a Canada/EU free trade agreement is finalized then I think we should concentrate on building ties with European Companies looking to invest in Canada. We have residents from most European countries here in Chatham-Kent able to help them establish a business here.
Would you support contracting municipal services to the private sector if those services can be delivered more efficiently?
No. We already contract grass cutting, major road resurfacing, ambulance service, transit service, garbage collection. I doubt there is much left that if contracted out would result in major savings.
Would you support investigating amalgamation of fire/ambulance/police services to reduce costs?
No. Fire and Ambulance are already one department. I doubt the Province would allow the Police to be merged with Fire & Ambulance.
Would you support a municipal tree-cutting bylaw if it contained incentives for woodlot owners to retain/increase tree cover?
Yes. Coun. Parsons should have taken advice before giving notice of motion proposing a tree cutting by law. Then perhaps the ensuing tree cutting could have been prevented.
Do you believe we need a municipal ombudsman or ethics commissioner such as London and Windsor have added?
No. Ian McLarty has made allegations against the mayor; these allegations were rejected by the judge. If any member of council, or a member of Administration, breaks the law or is suspected to have broken the law, then the Police should be notified and they will investigate.
Would you consider developing a usage benchmark for municipal offices, arena and libraries and closing those that don’t meet the standards?
No. Nothing would alienate residents living outside of Chatham more, than the closing of all the low attendance facilities that naturally would be most of those outside of Chatham. To our residents Chatham-Kent is the library, the arena and the local municipality office.
Do you support development of a community-wide multipurpose recreation centre?
No. Chatham-Kent is too big for just one multipurpose recreation centre. Depending on our finances we need to develop facilities across the municipality.
Do you support an adopt-a-park program in which service or volunteer groups assume some maintenance (grass cutting) of some municipal facilities?
No. While I doubt there would be any objections to groups or individuals picking up litter in a park, letting them loose with industrial sized mowers would be a liability nightmare.
Do you support investigating a reduction in the number of municipal councilors?
No. I believe that pressure to reduce the size of administration was somehow turned to reducing the number of councilors. If Council was reduced to ten (10) councilors plus the Mayor then the saving would ‘only’ amount to $175,000 per year, which sounds a lot, but on a budget of $300 Million isn’t a significant amount. Having councillors become more involved in the work of council by having them serve on a number of committees will mean better value for money for taxpayers.
