Steve Clarke helms one of his final meetings as Orillia mayor
After two terms as mayor, Steve Clarke helmed one of his final meetings in Orillia's council chambers on Monday afternoon.
Clarke, who announced earlier this year that he would not be seeking a third term as mayor of Orillia, led council's final meeting ahead of the upcoming municipal election on Monday afternoon.
"I will have nothing but fond memories of eight years in this job, and I quite mean that," says Clarke. "It doesn't mean there haven't been some challenging times and issues, but getting through some of those challenges with success can make it that much more rewarding."
One of the issues that has been on council's radar throughout the majority of his tenure is what to do with space at 70 Front Street, a topic that Clarke says the city is making progress on.
"That's a project that is culminating now after about six years of effort. "To, first of all, be able to drive down Coldwater Street and look right to the water and drive right to the water," says Clarke. "It will also add hundreds of people living there, which is one way to take a core of the city through a renaissance is to create more people living there, so that's also exciting."
Clarke notes that certain financial restrictions are imposed on councillors for decisions made close to an election.
After two terms in the city's top chair, he says he's expecting Orillia to continue to grow over the next decade. He's imploring his fellow citizens to show up at the polls to cast their vote for the next council.
"I remember my parents and especially my father drilling into me at a very young age that if you don't participate, if you don't vote, you don't have a right to complain or give your opinion later on, so I've taken that to heart and would encourage everybody to get out and vote!"
The municipal election will be held on Mon. Oct. 24.
The current session of city council will meet once more after the election before the new council is sworn in.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.