As a newly elected member of Cramahe Council, I look forward to serving the community and the citizens who put their confidence in me to act as their representative.
I have been a life-long resident of the township and continue to live on the property where I was raised. In 2000, I retired from the Kawartha Pine Ridge Board of Education and have spent the last 5 years travelling and gardening. I was first elected to municipal government in 1988 when Colborne was a separate municipality. For 5 years, I was a councillor and then in 1993, I became Deputy-Reeve when a vacancy occurred. From then until 2000, I acted in this capacity. During those 12 years, I was a member of several Boards and Committees and sat on County Council when Deputy-Reeves were included in the make-up of that governing body.
As a member of this wonderful community, and as a former Councillor/Deputy-Reeve, I have seen many exciting things happen in this area. The re-design of the main street in Colborne has brought a new and fresh look to the business community and is more welcoming to visitors, tourists and locals. The Keeler Centre is the "crown jewel" of the recreational facilities within the county and draws many people to sporting events, social gatherings and hosts a variety of entertainment. I look forward to continuing to support the Arts and Culture in ways that will highlight our local artisans and bring visitors to our area.
When campaigning, the most frequent concern was high property taxes. In order to relieve the high tax burden, I feel we must expand our sewage treatment plant, acquire and service industrial land, and promote this area through the Economic Development Committee so that new commercial and industrial taxes will lessen the burden for the residential tax payer. We must also support and work with the many businesses we already hae so they can grow and become as viable as possible. And last, but not least, we must recognize and support our farming community because they are the #1 industry within the township and we, as municipal politicians, must help them in whatever way we can to remain a strong and prosperous entity within our community.
I look forward to 4 years of hard work and dedication on your behalf.
Councillor Patricia Westrope
