Two candidates are running for mayor in the city of Owen Sound.
Incumbent Ian Boddy is seeking a third (and according to him, final) term as mayor. His opponent is Richard Thomas, who has completed two terms as a city councillor.
Boddy says he has decided to run again because he would like to see out "what we've started."
"The next phase is to try and attract more industry and commercial investment in the area. That's why I'm running for another term, to try and complete we've started. I anticipate this will be my last term, and I'd like to get done as much as I possibly can," Boddy noted.
Boddy says he's been knocking on doors around Owen Sound for approximately four weeks, and says a variety of issues have been brought to his attention, but admits that people are more focused on financial concerns, not limited to only taxes, but also interest rates going up. Other issues people bring up with him include "housing, but we're tackling that. Homelessness, and we're tackling that at Grey County. Most people seem content with what's going on, but the biggest concern does seem to be taxes," Boddy shared.
Richard Thomas says he was never a person that dreamed of being a politician, but became acutely aware of the challenges of the mayor's job during his time covering city council for media. He filed his papers to seek the mayorship on the first day nominations were being accepted. Thomas says the main issue in Owen Sound is high property taxes.
"Certainly in the eight years I've been on council, tax payers are crying for relief from their high property taxes. I've set that as the main plank in my platform. We need to figure out a way to get around those high property taxes, or to find some relief for our tax payers," Thomas said.
Thomas says that if he's elected as Owen Sound's next mayor, the city can "look at service agreements with our neighbours, and with Grey County, We can look at potential service fees for things, and all the way up to annexation or amalgamations, as well as potentially changing the municipal relationship with the province."
Municipal election day in Ontario is October 24, 2022.
