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Tess Prendergast campaigns on water security and taxpayer value

October 15, 2026   ·   0 Comments

With the Oct. 26 municipal election approaching, the Citizen has given all Orangeville council candidates the opportunity to share their background, priorities and approach to governance.

Below are responses from Tess Prendergast, who is seeking re-election as councillor.

1. What made you want to run for municipal office?

I have always been interested in politics and government, and becoming a councillor was something I had considered even when I was younger. But what actually pushed me to run was a strong sense that if I saw something that could be better, I should be willing to do the work to change it.

I have a strong sense of fairness, social justice and environmental responsibility. I notice who is affected by a decision, whose perspective may be missing and what the long-term consequences might be. As a teacher, parent, conservationist and volunteer, I was already involved in my community. Running for council felt like an opportunity to take that involvement further and have a direct impact on decisions being made.

That is still what I like about municipal government. It is tangible. An issue can start with something you notice or a conversation with a resident, and you can research it, ask questions, bring people together and sometimes actually fix it.

Four years later, I know how much I love this work. I also know far more about how to get things done. That is why I am running again.

2. What do you see as the biggest issues facing the municipality?

For me, one of the biggest challenges is how we continue providing the services residents expect without simply asking property taxpayers for more every year. More than 80 per cent of Orangeville’s tax base is residential. We need to scrutinize spending, but there is a limit to what can be solved by cutting. We also need to bring more money into Orangeville.

That means being much more active in pursuing grants, partnerships and appropriate commercial and industrial investment. Finding more funding and revenue will be a major focus for me in 2026–2030.

Water is just as important. Orangeville relies entirely on groundwater. Growth needs to be tied to confirmed water capacity, while we protect our wells and maintain the infrastructure we already have.

We also need to think further ahead. Extreme weather, housing, infrastructure, road safety and the health of our natural systems are not separate issues. Decisions we make today affect what Orangeville will be dealing with 10 or 20 years from now.

To me, resilience means planning for those pressures while still remembering that every dollar we spend belongs to the taxpayer.

3. What makes you best suited for the role?

I am an educator and a communicator. I hold a bilingual honours degree in International Studies and History, which taught me to research, question assumptions, look at issues from different perspectives and put what is happening in Orangeville into a broader context. Economic, political and environmental changes outside our borders eventually affect the decisions we make here.

I also know the job. Four years on council have taught me the issues, the municipal process and how to take something raised by a resident and move it toward a staff report, budget decision or completed project.

I do my research and ask direct questions. I can work collaboratively with people I do not always agree with, while still thinking independently and speaking up when something does not make sense.

During this term, I have helped move forward the Challenger Baseball pathway, safer pedestrian crossings, tree sapling and rain-barrel giveaways, pollinator protection and invasive-species planning.

I have reduced my teaching role to part-time so I can dedicate more time to council. I have the education, experience, relationships and time to accomplish more in a second term.

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