Mayor Milt McIver gave his inaugural address following his reelection.
During a meeting on Nov. 15, McIver, Deputy Mayor Rod Anderson, and councillors Todd Dowd, Laurie Golden, and Aman Sohrab declared their oaths to office and gave a few words.
“I come here excited, apprehensive, and somewhat privileged to be here,” says Anderson. “First impressions mean a lot, and we had our little meeting with out staff members and heads of the various departments, and my first impression is we got a good group, a very professional staff here and I am happy about that.”
Dowd added he was very excited about the new job and was grateful to be elected to the role.
“I hope I do everyone a good job,” he says.
Golden says with being reelected to the role of councillor, she takes the job very seriously and enjoys building relationships with people.
“I’m excited for this term, I think we are going to have an amazing term, hopefully not on Zoom all the time, but we got through that last term as well,” says Golden. “Being under Covid, I think our last term we got a lot done and a lot right, and I am looking forward to the same term this year. I think we are going to get a lot done and I think we are going to get a lot right.”
Sohrab says he is grateful to serve the community and to work with the municipality’s experienced staff and council.
“Tonnes of great experience to learn from, and I know we are going to get a lot done over the next four years,” says Sohrab.
McIver rounded out the speakers with addressing how he was honoured to be reelected and serve with the municipality’s councillors, both new and reelected.
“It is an honour and a privilege to serve once again as your mayor and I do believe that public service is a calling. It is our duty as elected officials to work towards a shared goal of making our community better. We want our community to be seen as a desirable place to live, work, play, and invest,” says McIver.
During his address, McIver reiterated the importance of the municipal strategic plan, which features four priorities including having a strong and resilient economy, being a transparent responsible government, having sustainable environment and infrastructure, and being a safe and vibrant community.
He adds over the last term, council was able to complete a number of studies, some of which include affordable and attainable housing, roads and sidewalks, climate action, and recreation.
“You can see we have completed a number of studies and plans, and there are costs associated so we as council will definitely have to prioritize where we head with these,” says McIver.
In closing, McIver says while some councillors may disagree on ideas, once decisions are made it is important to work as a team for the good of the municipality.
“Lets continue to build our community together over the next four years and I look forward to working with each of you as we represent and serve the people of Northern Bruce Peninsula,” says McIver.
