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Council candidate Andrews worries town is living beyond its means

August 24, 2018   ·   0 Comments

By Mike Pickford

After coming close to filing his nomination papers for Orangeville Council four years ago, Joe Andrews feels the time is right to make a concentrated run for municipal office.

A resident of Orangeville for more than three decades, Mr. Andrews is best known for his role as campus director at Humber College. A long-time volunteer with organizations such as the Dufferin Board of Trade, the Town of Orangeville’s Economic Development Committee and the Dufferin County Cultural Resource Circle, Joe is looking to channel his professional expertise towards getting Town Hall back on track.

“I look at where we are with this current council and I don’t think we, as a community, are where should be,” Mr. Andrews told the Citizen. “I know some of the current members, they’ve done their best, but it has unfortunately been like oil in water. They have not been able to work collectively and there are a number of issues that have been left on the table that are concerning to me.”

He added, “You don’t have to be present to know what’s going on. It’s unfortunate, but I think the time is now for a fresh new council, with fresh new ideas to come on board and steer this community back in the right direction.”

Running with the tagline ‘an experienced voice for Orangeville’, Mr. Andrews says the first priority of this next council has to be bringing the municipality’s operating budget “back to reality”. Having both cultivated and implemented multi-million dollar budgets during his time as head of Humber’s Orangeville campus, Mr. Andrews feels he has the wherewithal to identify where the municipality could look to save some money.

He has identified several “luxuries” he would like to look into, while also identifying the community’s policing and transportation departments as possible areas he feels the Town could potentially be more efficient.

“Fiscal responsibility is my number one issue heading into this election. I think we have reached a plateau in this community where we are going to have to rethink how we operate this town and maybe manage the sort of expectations we have,” Mr. Andrews said. “We may have too much for what this town is. I believe we’re going to have to go through every line within the Town’s operating budget, roll up our sleeves and determine what are the absolutes, what are the wishes and what may not necessarily be needed.”

He added, “My big question is ‘are we living beyond our means here in Orangeville?’”

A central focus heading into this election has been the future of the Orangeville Police Service. The current council voted against dissolving the local service in a contentious vote last year, one that seemingly split the community down the middle. While he was hesitant to reveal what side of the fence he stood on, Mr. Andrews admitted some “tough decisions” may have to be made over the next term, particularly as it relates to the OPS, which will cost taxpayers $8.2 million this year.

Also up for the debate is the future of Orangeville’s railway line. Since taking ownership of the 55-kilometre former CP Rail line in 2000, it has been reported the Orangeville Railway Development Corporation has lost approximately $8 million over the past 18 years.

“The railway is a huge issue. Diving into this a little deeper, looking at dollars and cents, I think it’s clear the future of that line has to be looked at, and looked at from an economic perspective as to what the return on investment is expected to be. I think it’s safe to say that, to date, it has not been even close to what was expected,” Mr. Andrews said.

He added, “Intermodal transport has changed significantly over the past 18 years, and will continue to change. I think we have to accept that maybe the stars didn’t align (with this initiative) and it’s time now for council to look at whether or not this line is an asset or a liability. If it’s a liability, how much of a liability has it become, and how significant a long-term liability will it become if we don’t do anything about it.”

In other areas, Joe says he’s “very concerned” about Orangeville’s water resources and feels this next council will need to tackle what he believes could become a real problem for the community. He also feels the municipality will have to make some headway on numerous infrastructure projects he feels have fallen by the wayside this term.

Running on three key platform pillars – maintain a strong sense of integrity, displaying fiscal responsibility and applying a degree of personal and collective accountability within council chambers, Mr. Andrews is asking local residents to “do your homework” ahead of the Oct. 22 vote.

“I bring a wealth of experience to the table that is extensive in both the public and private sector. I understand what it is to manage a multi-million-dollar operation,” Mr. Andrews said. “I bring integrity, I bring civility and I’m also an individual who does their homework. I’m willing to work with others. As much as there may be a difference of opinion, at the end of the day we have to come to a decision that is in the best interest of the people in this community.

He added, “We need to get away from allowing personal issues to coincide with business decisions.

“We have a phenomenal community. The people of this town deserve nothing but the best moving forward. There has been incredible frustration over what has transpired over the past four years, so I’d like to encourage the voters to do their homework on the candidates so we can have the best council moving forward.”

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