Duty calls for new heads of Clearview council
Since being elected in October, Chris Vanderkruys and Barry Burton have been working behind the scenes, getting ready to lead Clearview Township.
Vanderkruys and Burton will be sworn in at the inaugural council meeting Monday, at town hall in Stayner. Vanderkruys is the incoming mayor and Burton is incoming deputy mayor.
They will each have under their belts, a county orientation and two of three classes on what it is to be the head of council.
They have also been meeting with most council members individually to get a sense of what the issues are in each of the wards.
“We are willing to listen to other councillors and we have to be influential in order to move council forward,” said Burton.
Both are new to council and both have full-time jobs. Vanderkruys is the deputy director of business and development at the Barrie Public Library and Burton runs his own LED lighting company, Burton Lighting Network.
To make sure they are accessible to the public, they plan to share office hours at town hall, ensuring that one of them will be there to man the mayor’s office one day each week.
“We’ll hold specific office hours,” said Burton, adding the hours have yet to be set. “It’s the start of communication with a big C.”
Burton said he sees the role of deputy mayor as second-in-command and a councilor that represents all of Clearview.
“There is a responsibility to be in tune with all of the township,” said Burton.
Burton said they share an agenda, “to become knowledgeable about how council is actually running”. He said they plan to do a review of each department for the sole purpose of learning how each one is running and get a real understanding of financials.
They new council will dive into the budget process, with the first budget workshop scheduled for Dec. 8.
Burton came into the public eye as a crusader for the Collingwood Street Bridge. As committee chair, he tried to convince township and county officials to upgrade the bridge instead of replacing it, in order to save money and preserve the bridge’s heritage.
Burton and his wife Lorraine Gunn were married at their Creemore home in 2009. Their wedding procession crossed the Collingwood Street Bridge on horseback. A medieval history buff, Burton threw a theme wedding with the groom and groomsmen dressed as knights and the bride and bridesmaids dressed as ladies. Every guest was in costume, said Burton.
His interest stems from his family’s lineage, which can be traced back to medieval times.
As a blended family, the couple has four adult children and five grandchildren with another on the way.
Burton also rides a motorcycle, is restoring a 40-year-old cedar strip motorboat and is the proud owner of a parrot named Jewel. He has had the 26-year-old bird since it was six years old. The bird, one of the first domestic blue golden macaws in Canada, was part of a research project at the University of Guelph.
Vanderkruys was out of town at a conference this week and not available for an interview.
Election by the numbers
• 12,234 eligible voters
• 5,111 voted
• 3,580 voted online
• 1,531 voted by telephone
• 4,615 voters have resident status
• 486 non-residents cast ballots
• voters spent an average of one minute and 34 seconds voting online, add one minute for telephone voting
• 61 votes were cast out of province
• 30 votes were cast in the United States
• 3 votes were cast from South Korea
• The highest voter turnout was among those in their 70s, with 58 per cent
• The lowest turnout was among those in their 20s, with 24 per cent
• Of the 32 voters in their 90s, 13 voted online and 19 used the telephone (128 total eligible voters)
• Vote cast online for one person 99 and older
• 32 per cent of voters waited until the last day to cast a ballot
• 453 people cast their ballot using a tablet
• 189 voters cast a ballot using a smart phone
Chris Vanderkruys won the mayor’s race with a total of 2,856 votes, compared to 2,187 for Alicia Savage.
Vanderkruys won in five of seven ridings.
He took Ward 2 (Duntroon, Singhampton, Glen Huron, Dunedin), Ward 4 (Stayner south), Ward 5 (Creemore, Avening), Ward 6 (Sunnidale Corners) and Ward 7 (New Lowell, Brentwood).
Savage won Ward 1 (Nottawa) and Ward 3 (Stayner north).
Barry Buton won the race for deputy mayor with a total of 2,589 votes compared to 2,348 for Larry Culham.
Burton won in four of seven ridings.
He took Ward 2 (Duntroon, Singhampton, Glen Huron, Dunedin), Ward 5 (Creemore, Avening), Ward 6 (Sunnidale Corners) and Ward 7 (New Lowell, Brentwood).
Culham won Ward 1 (Nottawa), Ward 3 (Stayner north) and Ward 4 (Stayner south).
