Phillip Smith

Oct 15, 2014

Councillor

Phillip Smith – work and volunteer experience

Phillip Smith has been sitting on Council for the last eight months. He was appointed to finish out the term after Bill Snyder died. He sat on council between 2006 and 2010, then lost out to Snyder and Heather Fox in 2010, finishing in third place.

In addition to his council experience, he was heavily involved in the Parham Fair for 15 years. He works at the Robinson Group in Sharbot Lake, where he is the manager of mortgage operations.

“For me, running for Council is a bit of giving back to the community and staying informed about what is going on. I am able to bring some of my work and volunteer experience to the table,” he said.

In terms of immediate goals, like other candidates he said that one of the first priorities for the new council, in addition to securing stability at the senior staffing level, is building a new fire hall in Parham.

He likes the idea of locating the hall at the corner of Long Lake and Wagarville roads on the site of the former Hinchinbrooke school, calling the location ideal, but said, “The question is cost. We will know soon if school the site is viable, and then we will decide where to build the new fire hall,” he said.

Either way, he expects the new hall to be built in the first year of the new term.

In terms of the two issues that are being talked about most in his ward, he thinks that “there are too many unknowns” for him to say he favours purchasing and renovating Hinchinbrooke school.

And his position regarding Piccadilly Hall is that it is not slated for closure and unless the matter comes back to council it is not an issue.

One thing that concerns him is the plan for mandatory septic re-inspections.

“I believe it would be a good thing, but the potential hardship it can cause needs to be considered. As I have said before, the devil is in the details. We need to make sure there are measures in place so that we are not putting anybody out of their home,” he said.

In general, he thinks that while there are things that need improvement, the township is in better shape than they were eight years ago, when he first joined council.

“At that time there were things that were obviously broken. The issues now are not as drastic.”