by Connie Tabbert
Editor
BEACHBURG — Whitewater Region Township Mayor Jim Labow is a casualty of the change that swept through most of Renfrew County during the provincial municipal election on Oct. 27.
He has survived many elections since 1991 when he was acclaimed a councillor for the former Village of Beachburg. In the fall of 2000, he was elected to the newly amalgamated Whitewater Region Township, which officially became a municipality on Jan. 1, 2001.
Looking back to when he started, Mayor Labow said, “Art Jamieson asked me if I’d like to run.”
Married and with two young children, as well as being a pharmacist in Renfrew, he thought about it and talked it over with wife Marilyn.
“I had to be conscious of the time constraint,” he said. “There were two meetings a month. But back then, there wasn’t as much a time factor as there is now.”
Mayor Labow was the first person in his family to run for a political office.
Between 1991 and 2000, he was elected twice, the rest of the elections he was acclaimed. In 2000, there was an election for all seats on the new council, Mayor Labow recalled. He was elected as a councillor for Whitewater Region Township council in 2000, 2004 and 2007. In 2010 he was acclaimed Mayor and then was defeated in the 2014 election.
“I don’t know why,” he said. “The buzz word change was everywhere, maybe that’s it.”
Mayor Labow said people are also not satisfied with provincial and federal legislation the municipality has to follow.
“People were dissatisfied with some stuff council was doing,” he said. “They wanted us to try and circumvent legislation of the province and federal.
“A lot of what people want changed can’t be,” he said.
However, he’s thankful there are two returning council members, unlike what happened in McNab Braeside Township and North, Algona Wilberforce Township.
“They threw out the baby with the bath tub,” he said.
Mayor Labow thinks people believe he didn’t try hard enough.
“They think I wasn’t enough,” he said.
He is disheartened and said, “It makes you think that what you did doesn’t matter. It makes you wonder if anything you did was that wrong or did anyone appreciate it.”
He realizes there are some people who are still upset with amalgamation. However, he’s a firm believer that it will take at least a generation before people are happy, which is equal to about 25 years.
“Hopefully we’ll get there.”
The most recent step taken to ensure this municipality is one was the elimination of the ward system, Mayor Labow said. The former council tried to have that in place for the 2010 election, but that didn’t happen. What happened was the reduction in the number of seats on council, down to seven from nine.
“The council back then wasn’t yet ready to eliminate the ward system,” he said.
The idea of the ward system was to ensure there was representation at the council table from all corners of the new township, Mayor Labow said.
A recent accomplishment of the council was passing the official plan and having it sent to the provincial government for approval, he said. Now, it’s time to complete the zoning bylaw, which is the next step, he said. Currently, there are zoning bylaws for Cobden, Ross and Westmeath, but Beachburg never had any, he said.
“What can be done in one area of the township may not be done in another,” he explained.
County planner Charles Cheesman is working on the zoning blaw, he added.
“It’s a big job,” Mayor Labow said. “We have to take the best of three, as well as the sub-division agreements, and get them into one.”
People are also upset with the PPS (Provincial Policy Statement) “and we are too, but that takes precedence over anything we do,” Mayor Labow said. And, with the Liberal government having a majority government, it’s not going to go away and time soon, he added.
“Nothing is going to change for at least four years,” he said, adding, “And the local council cannot do anything about that.”
Mayor Labow said some people felt because he wasn’t fist thumping and yelling loud enough, that nothing was being accomplished. However, that’s not the case, he said.
“I prefer the quiet approach because you get more results in co-operative ventures than with hammer in hand,” he said.
Another positive thing this council has done is complete a strategic plan, Mayor Labow said. It was also recently updated this past summer.
“It gives focus to where this township is going,” he said.
Mayor Labow said the township is in as good as shape as when this council began. While there have been some complaints about the roads, he said the conditions depend on the weather, and this past year there have been many wet conditions, sometimes outright downpours.
He recalled one person complaining because her road had been paved and now the vehicles travel too fast on it. Whether a road is paved or not has nothing to do with speed, he said.
“People’s driving habits need to change,” he said.
There are no municipal roads that are as wide and smooth as provincial roads, he said.
When he spoke about the renovations at the town hall, Mayor Labow said many people were upset when that happened. But, to look professional, it needed doing, or else spending millions more to build a new facility.
As for the front office security windows, Mayor Labow said many times there can be a fair amount of money in the front office drawers.
“Lots of people come in to pay taxes and water bills in cash,” he said. “Someone could slide across the front counter before the staff person even realizes it’s happening.”
It was also noted that many people come into the front office and feel they have to speak to every person working, which is a distraction, Mayor Labow said. With the glass, the person need only speak with who is at the window and other staff can keep working, he explained.
Mayor Labow said he has enjoyed his 23 years in municipal political life.
“It’s not so much the spotlight, but knowing you had a hand in developing your township,” he said. “It’s knowing you helped make your municipality grow and prosper
“I really enjoyed it, being part of the planning and operation and growth of the township.”
Mayor Labow is going to miss the interaction of staff and council members.
For the new council coming in, Mayor Labow said each of them will have to find the balance between family, work and being on council. Sometimes council matters will take away from family time, which is a tough decision, he said.
He hopes the residents who are requesting change, will give the new council time to get their feet wet. Chris Olmstead and Dave Mackay have no municipal experience, and Charlene Jackson and Hal Johnson, who have municipal working knowledge and experience, must remember they are council members, not staff members.
“It will be a challenge, as I see it, that they remember they have no authority to direct staff,” he said. “Normally at a meeting, department heads usually attend, and have one-on-one with council. A lot of what staff will do through council will be filtered through Chris (chief administrative officer Christine FitzSimons).”
The new council will also have to figure out what the change is the people want, he said.
“I’m not sure the people know what they want changed,” he said.
“I really enjoyed my time on council and I wish the new council well,” he said.
Looking to his future, Mayor Labow said he still has plenty to keep him busy. He is the owner of Beach-West Pharmacy in Beachburg, is a member of the Beachburg Lions club, and has been for 29 years, is chair of stewards at St. Andrew’s United Church in Beachburg, secretary/treasurer for the recreation association and plays the fiddle for Beachburg Connection.
