I spoke to Ron Laronde of Cobden, who is running for Councillor, and asked him a few questions regarding the election.
I asked him what his plan was for the region and why he was running for Councillor.
“We definitely need change, we need the council to listen to the Whitewater Residents.” he said. “I don’t believe there’s any communication between Council and Whitewater right now.”
“Whatever the results, we will have better leaders than we do now.”
“I believe Whitewater residents take their needs to the council, the council then takes it to the CAO and he says what the regulations are, and then the Council goes back to the residents with a solution.” he said. “Right now, the former CAO made the decisions.”
He also said he wanted to take a stance on the water rates.
“Our water rates are the highest in Renfrew County, the second is Eganville.” he said. “Our water quality isn’t good – there’s maganese in it, which Health Canada says can cause cancer.”
“Our water treatment plant is another issue. We need to get rid of OCWA and go back to what we had before.” he said. “It takes one year [to leave the OCWA agreement].
“I’ve seen a lot of anger from the citizens.” he said. He said that Concerned Citizens of Cobden, an advocacy group, was dismissed when raising concerns about memorial benches being destroyed, and only later found them in storage.
He said that he didn’t expect Council to always answer everything the residents wants, but he expected there to be an effort made.
“Ken Francis said: when you become a leader, it’s okay not to have the answers.” he said. “You go out and find it.”
“I want to bring a little common sense [to the Council].”
