Lichty Turns Down Deputy Warden Nomination

Jeff Green | Jan 10, 2024

To no one's surprise, Frontenac County Council opted for continuity when it came time to choose a warden for 2024.
Frances Smith began serving her record 4th term as Frontenac County Warden on December 20, 2022. She was the only nominee.
It was not as straightforward when it came to the selection of a deputy warden however. Councillor Ray Leonard (South Frontenac) nominated Ron Vandewal, which sets him up for a possible return as Warden in 2025.
Frontenac Islands Mayor Judith Greenwood-Speers then nominated North Frontenac Mayor Gerry Lichty, but before a rare vote for deputy warden took place, Lichty intervened.
“I thank you for the nomination,” he said to Greenwood-Speers, “but I think with a new CAO coming on board later this year, we should stick with the experience that we have. Next year is a totally different story, but for this year I'd like us to stick with Fran and Ron.”
There is no requirement that the deputy warden take over as warden in Frontenac County, but that has been the practice ever since the county was re-formulated 20 years ago.
Until this term of council, only the mayors of the 4 townships were eligible to serve as warden, but the previous council changed the rules.
As of this term, all 8 members of the council, the 4 mayors as well as the second member of council appointed from each township, can serve as either warden or deputy warden, so a contested election for one or both positions will result at some point in the future.
In accepting the position as warden, Fran Smith pointed out that a lot has happened since she was first elected as warden by a 29 member council back in 1996.
“At that time, I was quite young actually, and I became the poster child for amalgamation in the Kingston Frontenac region, and ended up travelling all around the province talking about what we were doing.” She recalled a tumultuous year when the terms of municipal amalgamation were being negotiated among the 13 Frontenac townships and the City of Kingston.
She did not run for re-election in 1998, or in 2001, but returned to Central Frontenac Council in 2003. She was appointed then to serve out the term when a member of council resigned. She then served as councillor in Central Frontenac for 3 terms before running successfully for mayor in 2014. She was re-elected by acclamation in both 2018 and 2022.
“I served as warden in 2016, and again in 2020, when I presided over a dispute with the City of Kingston over the payment of invoices, and then COVID. It was the only time in my long career that I had to declare a state of emergency, both in the county and in my own municipality, so you might say I've been tested.”
She then said that the county will be guided in 2024 by the four general goals that were identified in the recent strategic planning process. (see sidebar on page 7)

Other County business
Is Public Health amalgamation “a done deal”?
In his briefing to Council, Chief Administrator Kelly Pender said that he has accepted an appointed by The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) to monitor and act as a liaison regarding the proposed merger of Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington Public Health (KFLAPH) with Hastings Prince Edward Public Health and Lanark, Leeds and Grenville Public Health.
“Is this a done deal?”, asked Ron Vandewal, “I'm concerned that once this gets so big they will not be responsive to our local concerns.”
Judith Greenwood-Speers, the Frontenac County Rep to the KFLAPH Board of Directors, said “our task is to make sure that there is a buy-in for this from everyone, that it is not a takeover but a true merger. That being said, there is a tight timeline for submitting a business case in order to secure provincial funding to finance the transition. By March we will be clear whether we want to move forward as a part of the group of three. Kelly's role is to make sure the municipal voice is still heard.”
K&P Trail issues
A number of items related to the future of the K&P Trail came before Council. A motion sponsored by Councillor Fred Fowler to invite Cindy Cassidy, the General Manager of the Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance (EOTA) to a meeting of council sometime this year, was approved.
Fowler, who sits on the EOTA Board as an appointee from North Frontenac, said EOTA has been involved in trail development and management for two decades, and Cassidy would like to discuss ways to move forward between EOTA and
Frontenac County as regards the K&P and other trails.
A proposal from Judith Greenwood-Speers, to complete a return on investment (ROI) report regarding all of the costs of construction and ongoing maintenance on the K&P Trail since trail construction started in 2009, was not supported by council, however.
“I do not want to support this,”said Ron Vandewal. It would be very hard to do and I don't think it will be money well spent to go through and try and determine a return on investment of something whose benefits are so intangible, like a trail."
Fred Fowler said that he saw reference to a study that said $1 investment in trails brings $3 in heatlh benefits.
“The cost benefit has been done,” he said.
Richard Allen, the County Manager for Economic Development, pointed out that the information Fowler had provided was based on a study of trails in general, and is not specific to the K&P
I've thought about this,” said North Frontenac Mayor Gerry Lichty. “It is a lot of work, and if we get the result how do we interpret this?”
“The county has invested a lot of money on the trail,” responded Greenwood-Speers, “and I think that the taxpayers are entitled to see that there is some sort of tracking of the return on investment. Yes, it may cost some time and effort but when the build out was started in 2009, a commitment was made that that there was going to be some tracking. Having documentation of return on investment would be good for our taxpayers who are footing the bill for it.”
There was a recorded vote on the motion, and the result was 8 opposed and 1 in favour, with the only yes vote coming from Greenwood-Speers.
Finally, a recommendation from the Planning and Economic Development Advisory Committee to reject a proposal to extend the motorised use of the trail south from Verona to the trailhead in Harrowsmith, was accepted by Council without comment. ■