Inaugural Address 

Inaugural Address from Mayor Doughty

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome everyone for attending today and to extend a sincere thank you to all Members of Council for committing to serve our great community and to thank all those who ran in the recent Election.  Needless to say, apathy is not Huntsville - there were a lot of well fought races.

Over the past six weeks since our Election, I have found a real willingness to work together.  There is a real sense of respect for fellow Councillors both within the confines of this building and out on the street.

When the electorate spoke so clearly that the time has come to work together, I don't interpret that as meaning we all agree with each other.

I truly believe the message is that we respect each other.  We need to take the high road and refrain from the disparaging comments and personal slights.  The fact that a fellow Councillor voted against you does not warrant such reactions.

I have met with all Councillors on a number of occasions and before you today is the result of those fruitful meetings.  We have a new format for Committee and Council Meetings.  As well, we have more lay members assisting us than in the past.

I would like to thank all members of our community who put forward their names to help us on many of our Committees and while five members are appointed here today, the vast number of appointments will be made after the holiday season when we implement our Unity Plan with its proposed Committee structure. I strongly encourage anyone who has not yet applied for a position to do so.  A Committee Application is on the Town website.

Over the last four years, my access has been full time - my door is always open both to Councillors and to the community.

In the next four years,  I believe we should work towards the following goals:

1. Capital spending should not cause an increase in our debt;
2. Our tax rate increase needs to be low in keeping with our Election commitments;
3. Special efforts should be made to continue to fill up the Waterloo Building.  We are now close to an Agreement with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) and other enquiries are coming in.  I invite everyone to attend the Official Grand Opening for the University of Waterloo Building on January 21^st;
4. Huntsville, as a Sustainable Community, will take a lot of work over this term of Council.  I propose to strike the required Committees in January.  Our Unity Plan is a great start towards that goal; however, I think it would be valuable to visit other communities that have had significant success in this area as much can be learned from others before embarking on that voyage;
5. Customer service needs to be another focus for us in this term of Council.  The term 'customer service' can apply to sidewalks, streetlights or hosting events such as the Oldtimers Hockey Tournament this past weekend where 400 players descended on Huntsville.  Events and cultural tourism will play an important role in our economic future going forward.  Huntsville is such a wonderful host for such activities.  We need to work hard at maximizing the benefits of our new facilities.
   
   Claude Doughty,
   Mayor