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Managing Orangeville’s growth is the focus for council candidate Rick Stevens

September 15, 2022   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A seat at Orangeville’s council table could give Rick Stevens another means to serve.

Actually, it could be about the only facet of civic duty he hasn’t been face-and-eyes into the last 25 or 30 years. He is one of a field of 10 candidates in the running to become one of five councillors. Residents will make their mark on ballots Oct. 24.

“If I am elected to council, I will be a fresh new voice for the residents of Orangeville,” Stevens said. “I will listen to the community, their issues, their concerns, and bring them forward to council.”

And that “new voice” won’t be completely new to town hall or the Orangeville community.

Stevens worked for the Town of Orangeville for about 25 years. He was a special constable with the former Orangeville Police Service for 21 years of that time until the Ontario Provincial Police took over in 2020.

For the past 15 years, Stevens has been at the helm of the Orangeville Minor Hockey Association as president. If that wasn’t enough, he volunteered as a firefighter in Shelburne for a dozen years.

“A big part of my life has been about volunteering and serving the community where I live,” he said. “I am running for council so I can give back, once again, to our community.”

He feel his years at Orangeville Town Hall working in parks and recreation and then with the police service affords him a perspective on how the municipal levers work.

“I feel I can offer fresh ideas for areas that need (to be) improved upon,” he said. “As a retired town employee, a community volunteer for over 15 years dealing directly with the town, and a resident, I see opportunities for areas that could run more efficiently (while) saving tax dollars.”

To that point, Stevens said the municipality with “extremely high” property tax rates needs to get more from those dollars.

“As a town, we need to improve upon the value provided to residents for paying such high property taxes,” Stevens said.

More attention needs to be paid to how Orangeville’s growth is managed, he said. Recent subdivisions have been poorly planned, and that shows in the dearth of available parking.

“We all see the endless street-parking in some of the newer subdivisions because residents have no other choice but to park on the street,” he said. “Any future subdivisions should not pass until the builder has a solid plan for sufficient parking for both residents and their guests.”

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Managing Orangeville’s growth is the focus for council candidate Stevens

By JAMES MATTHEWS

A seat at Orangeville’s council table could give Rick Stevens another means to serve.

Actually, it could be about the only facet of civic duty he hasn’t been face-and-eyes into the last 25 or 30 years. He is one of a field of 10 candidates in the running to become one of five councillors. Residents will make their mark on ballots Oct. 24.

“If I am elected to council, I will be a fresh new voice for the residents of Orangeville,” Stevens said. “I will listen to the community, their issues, their concerns, and bring them forward to council.”

And that “new voice” won’t be completely new to town hall or the Orangeville community.

Stevens worked for the Town of Orangeville for about 25 years. He was a special constable with the former Orangeville Police Service for 21 years of that time until the Ontario Provincial Police took over in 2020.

For the past 15 years, Stevens has been at the helm of the Orangeville Minor Hockey Association as president. If that wasn’t enough, he volunteered as a firefighter in Shelburne for a dozen years.

“A big part of my life has been about volunteering and serving the community where I live,” he said. “I am running for council so I can give back, once again, to our community.”

He feel his years at Orangeville Town Hall working in parks and recreation and then with the police service affords him a perspective on how the municipal levers work.

“I feel I can offer fresh ideas for areas that need (to be) improved upon,” he said. “As a retired town employee, a community volunteer for over 15 years dealing directly with the town, and a resident, I see opportunities for areas that could run more efficiently (while) saving tax dollars.”

To that point, Stevens said the municipality with “extremely high” property tax rates needs to get more from those dollars.

“As a town, we need to improve upon the value provided to residents for paying such high property taxes,” Stevens said.

More attention needs to be paid to how Orangeville’s growth is managed, he said. Recent subdivisions have been poorly planned, and that shows in the dearth of available parking.

“We all see the endless street-parking in some of the newer subdivisions because residents have no other choice but to park on the street,” he said. “Any future subdivisions should not pass until the builder has a solid plan for sufficient parking for both residents and their guests.”

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