Mayor On A Mission At Frontenac County

Jeff Green | Mar 19, 2014

It’s fair to say that Frontenac Islands politicians have made their mark at Frontenac County.

The previous mayor, Jim Vanden Hoek, served as warden and also on the board of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. As a member of Frontenac County Council, he was a booster of the county's role but at the same time he was highly critical of spending at Fairmount Home and of the way county staff operated at times.

On Wolfe Island, he will forever be associated with the still controversial wind project. Interestingly enough, though, it was not that controversy that resulted in Vanden Hoek being defeated in 2010 by the current mayor, Dennis Doyle.

“Vanden Hoek won the vote on Wolfe Island; it was the Howe Island vote that gave me the election over him. He did not pay enough attention to Howe Island,” said Dennis Doyle.

Doyle, along with his outspoken colleague from Howe Island, David Jones, has been a controversial force at Frontenac County. They have taken on other councilors and staff at times in opposing some spending initiatives. It was Doyle who moved the successful motion that killed the county's Green Energy Task Force, and he also unsuccessfully tried to eliminate the Sustainability Task Force.

He has also proposed that all of the money sitting in a temporary reserve fund at the county, in excess of $4 million, be downloaded to the townships rather than going towards any future needs of the county or a long-term project.

At the same time, he is the first to take advantage of any opportunities to make use of county services and is a proponent of more, not less, involvement of the county in areas that the other townships would like to keep the county far away from.

“We have a unique relationship with the county. We see county staff as helpful to us. It’s partly because of the history of the Howe Island ferry. The ferry is operated by the county, although it is funded entirely by the province and Howe Island residents. Ratepayers in Sydenham and Sharbot Lake are not on the hook at all.”

Frontenac Islands is the only township that contracts out its financial services to the county, and was the first to avail itself of planning services when they became available.

The Islands also uses county expertise in Human Resources, Health and Safety, Trails and Emergency Planning.

Even though at the county table Dennis Doyle has been a harsh critic of Treasurer and acting Chief Administrative Officer Marian Vanbruinessen, he talks about how helpful she has been to the Islands by attending meetings with the Minister of Transportation and the public on Howe Island to talk about problems with the Howe Island ferry.

“I dare say that we work closer with staff at Frontenac County than most of the other townships, and we look forward to doing more in the future,” he said.

While the three mainland townships have been careful to keep the county at arm's length as they pursue closer co-operation with each other on road maintenance and waste management services, Frontenac Islands looks to the county for collaboration, perhaps because the county office is closer to the Islands than the rest of the county is.

In that way, Dennis Doyle’s position regarding the county is closer to that of Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutwoski than to that of South Frontenac Mayor Gary Davison, even though he is on collegial terms with Davison, and is one of the subjects of a lawsuit for statements he has made and motions he has supported against Janet Gutowski.

All in all, Doyle is not particularly upset about the bitter tone that has dominated Frontenac County Council this term.

“I think, when you look at it, we have made real progress at the county this term. A lot of stuff has been cleaned up and there are a lot of new opportunities for growth in the future. Frontenac Islands is too small to do things on its own. We have to work with the other townships and the county to move forward.”

He said that he is considering running for a second term as mayor but has not yet made up his mind.