By Laurie Watt

The politics and the politicking of running for Barrie’s top job are underway, although there’s still a year to go before the next municipal election.

And even though the campaign doesn’t officially start until candidates register – as early as Jan. 4 – there’s no doubt we’re already seeing some subtle campaigning.

So who is stepping forward to lead Barrie starting Dec. 1, 2010? A few months ago, there was a joke – who’s not running for mayor? With posturing and grandstanding and recorded votes on almost every motion at city council, it looked like half of council was preparing to join the race for the mayor’s chair.

But as the reality of the money and energy to run a campaign sinks in, the field has been shrinking.

Ward 5 Coun. Lynn Strachan talked of running for mayor, but now she’s content to stay as a councillor. Ward 7 Coun. John Brassard considered it, and decided not to.

“We are entering an extremely critical period where storng leadership will be needed with respect to growth. The decisions we make will shape how this city looks for generations to come, and my hope is whoever is the next leader of council shares a similar vision and can see the potential, will drive a progressive social agenda, and is a consensus-builder who has the city’s best interests at heart,” said Brassard.

Ward 2 Coun. Jeff Lehman admits he is considering running.

Mayor Dave Aspden did not return The Advance’s call. A long-time friend said Aspden – who was plagued by unsubstantiated corruption allegations early in his term – once insisted he wouldn’t run again, but that was in the wake of an OPP and an Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services probe.

“He told me two years ago, friend to friend, he wasn’t going to run again. He hasn’t said a thing since, not a thing. Maybe he’s changed his mind,” the source confided.

If Aspden was to run again, he’d start off with two advantages: being the incumbent and $13,091 in the bank, a surplus from his 2006 campaign. Aspden was late in declaring his intentions in 2006 – so much so he caught contenders off-guard.

One was 2003-2006 Mayor Rob Hamilton, the only person who has declared he’d like the job again.
 “The city needs someone with proven leadership ability, with experience, with vision, and also someone who connects with people. That’s what I’m working on now – connecting with people,” said Hamilton.

“We need to be doing things better. The next five, 10, even 15 years will be very competitive,” he said, adding the city has to make investments that will attract jobs through large and small firms alike. While he was mayor, Hamilton built a team of business ambassadors who listened for leads and worked on selling the city to prospective firms. The initiative brought BMO’s data centre and enabled the city to create the Mapleview West Business Park.

“The city needs a cheerleader. It needs a salesperson. It needs someone to make it happen. We brought BMO, and as a result, TD is coming. There are others. You have to go after them,” said Hamilton.

The city also cannot ignore the smaller businesses, especially the creative industry professionals who can locate anywhere in the world – and who seek a quality of life, the downtown businessman said.
“We need to balance our (tax) assessment. It’s more than 80 per cent residential – that’s why taxes are high,” said Hamilton.

Singing a similar tune is former Conservative MPP Joe Tascona, who served on council from 1991 until he was swept to Queen’s Park as part of the Common Sense Revolution in June 1995. He lost his seat in 2007 and went back to practising law full-time.

“I’m just thinking about (running for mayor),” he acknowledged. He attended council this week with his Grade 12 daughter, to show her how municipal government works he said.

“There are a lot of issues. People are looking at leadership on council, at getting (councillors) to work together. There are concerns with taxes,” he said, citing the rising taxes and the city’s high dependence on the residential taxpayer.

“When I was on council, we didn’t have any tax increases. Council worked really well. We built projects like the library, the Barrie Molson Centre and secured the waterfront lands along (the abandoned rail line, which is now the GO transit line and the Allandale Station site),” he said.

“It gave us the space for the second GO station. It was always my objective to get the train back.”
While Hamilton and Tascona come from the Progressive Conservative side, another possible contender comes from the Liberal camp: Ward 2 Coun. Jeff Lehman.

 “Quite honestly, it’s a big decision,” said Lehman, who adds he’s still thinking about running for mayor.

“It’s a big decision politically. It’s a big decision personally,” the father of a young daughter said. Now commuting to a planning firm in the GTA, Lehman also travels to other cities, including Calgary and Winnipeg, to work on projects.

“The defining issue of the next term will be how we plan for (the annexed) lands. Either we will have learned and will plan better, or we will fail. That’s a great challenge, a tremendous challenge, that will require really strong leadership.”