Feature Article December 11, 2003
LAND O' LAKES NewsWeb HomeFrontenac Islands Mayor takes on County Warden role
I think that the one group that really needs prayer are politicians, a smiling Reverend George McNight said as he began the invocation prayer for the new Frontenac County Council last Wednesday at the Council Chambers at Fairmount Home in Glenburnie last Wednesday.
On a more serious note, McNight talked about the new beginnings which will bring new opportunities for Council and the County, and thanked the four members of the Council for their willingness to serve.
Mayors Bill Lake (South Frontenac), Bill MacDonald (Central Frontenac), Ron Maguire (North Frontenac) and Jim Vanden Hoek (Frontenac Islands) then took the oath of office. The first order of business for the new Council was to elect a Warden. Bill MacDonald nominated Jim Vanden Hoek for the job. Mr. Vanden Hoek accepted the nomination and was acclaimed to the post, and MacDonald himself was then acclaimed to the deputy warden post. While the official term for both posts is three years, the four councillors have agreed Mr. Vanden Hoek will resign after one year and Bill MacDonald will become Warden in 2005. This will give the two newly elected members a chance to get acclimated with the functions of the County over the next two years.
Warden Vanden Hoek is looking forward to a smoother time at the County Level during this next term, because the Fairmount Home expansion project will be completed in January, and the establishment of a County Land Ambulance Service will be in place on January 1 as well. We owe a large debt to the former Council; things will be a lot smoother this time around, and I would like to thank Phil [Leonard] and Stan [Johnston] for bringing us to this point.
Outgoing Warden Phil Leonard and outgoing North Frontenac Mayor Stan Johnston attended the meeting to brief the new members of the council on the various posts they have held for the county since amalgamation in 1998.
Vanden Hoek also said When I look at Eastern Ontario, I see opportunity, and I think we are going to have to be creative and flexible to take advantage of opportunities that are before us.
One challenge that will carry over from the previous County Council is the ongoing arbitration case over a new funding arrangement with the City of Kingston over shared services, known as the Local Services Realignment agreement, which will be dealt with at an arbitration hearing in May.
Phil Leonard informed Warden Vanden Hoek and the rest of Council that he had a meeting with newly elected Kingston Mayor Rosen a week earlier, and found him to be very straightforward and reasonable, so I think things will improve in relations with the City. They cant get any worse, he concluded, referring to the ongoing disputes between Frontenac County and the Isabel Turner administration in Kingston.
