Bill Cox declares for reeve in Addington Highlands

by Jeff Green

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After serving as a councillor in Addington Highlands for one term, Bill Cox has decided to seek the reeve’s job during the coming municipal election. Ken Hook, the current reeve, will not be seeking re-election.

Cox, 62, was born and raised in Northbrook . He spent his working years in Toronto , working for the Toronto Transit Commission in the engineering section, where he oversaw the purchasing of non-revenue generating vehicles, mostly for the maintenance department.

He finished working in Toronto 13 years ago, and moved back to Flinton. By that time his mother had moved to Pineview apartments in Northbrook , where she still lives. Bill and his wife Kathleen moved into her home in Flinton.

Although Kathleen was still working in Toronto at the time, Bill was certainly ready to leave the city.

“I guess it’s true when they say you can take the boy out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the boy,” Cox recalled during a telephone interview this week.

As a councillor, Bill Cox has become involved in managing township buildings, both as chair of the recreation committee, and as the council liaison for the renovations that have been taking place to the township office and recreation centre in Flinton. He also has been sitting on the board of the Pine Meadow Nursing Home.

Bill Cox likely would be running for re-election as a Ward 2 Councillor if current reeve, Ken Hook, had decided to run for re-election

“Personally, I had hoped he [Hook] would run again,” Bill Cox said, “but with Ken not running, it was important for someone on council to take a run at it. As far as I know, none of the other councillors are contemplating running for reeve.”

The reeve’s responsibilities in Addington Highlands are extensive. Aside from presiding over council meetings, the reeve sits on all township committees, on Lennox and Addington Council, and chairs one of the county committees as well.

On top of all this, the reeve and council in Addington Highlands are more involved in the day-to-day operations of the township than are representatives in other districts, because the township maintains a very small office staff.

“I often stop in the township office for a few minutes, and end up spending a couple of hours, just to help out because there is so much to do and so few hands to do it all. I must commend our staff, however, they are extremely hard working,” Cox said.

Bill Cox also said he would like to carry on with some of the initiatives this council has undertaken in the area of economic development, although he admits to a feeling of frustration at the lack of support from the federal and provincial governments for all the efforts that have been made in the township over the past few years.

“We keep asking, but we don’t seem to get the backing from the provincial and federal government that we could use.”