MEET JAMIE
My wife and I married young and raised our family in the Ottawa Valley before landing in Perth. With a three-year diploma in Graphic Arts Management, I worked my way through the managerial ranks of mid-size printing companies (21-35 employees) in Ottawa before founding my own business CPR Printing.
I grew it into a successful private sector business, serving provincial and federal government clients, and non-profits or NGO’s for a quarter of a century. I bring expertise in tendering and procurement - vital to government grants which OTHER TOWNS are using to pay for infrastructure - experience in customer relations, balancing and financing budgets and resource deployment.
common sense + MY BUSINESS ACUMEN
Skyrocketing Property Taxes. Crumbling Infrastructure. Making the Same Mistakes Over and Over.
Large Property Tax Increases drive up RENTS, crush small BUSINESSES and punish HOMEOWNERS on fixed incomes.
Raising property taxes 21% over the past five years is NOT an answer to long neglected, crumbling infrastructure.
Other town Councils are lobbying provincial, federal and county governments for capital project grants – and succeeding - with professional focused ‘shovel-ready’ proposals !
Adopting a more business-minded approach to BOTH revenues and expenses. We are facing a financial crisis twenty years in the making.
How did we get to this point? Complacency? Hubris?
Pools get old. Arenas get old. Infrastructure ages out. Surprise? No.
Inadequate strategic planning, a lack of financial leadership, deferrals, delaying, inadequate reserve funds. Those are the surprises.
Business acumen, focused leadership, new energy are the way forward. Making it happen rather than letting it happen.
Why are we – the citizens of Perth - paying 87% of the cost of courthouse security. The Drummond Street courthouse is owned by the province and serves the entire County of Lanark. How long has that been going on? How often has council been reviewing our PILT revenues [Payments In Lieu of Taxes] on local properties owned by upper tier governments?
Complacency is no longer an option. The Offices of Deputy Mayor and Mayor are no longer part-time jobs. Other councils are focused on broadening revenue streams by lobbying provincial, federal and county governments for grants. We could pursue sponsorships, explore fee structures and partnerships. Doing all that is a full- time job.
Complacency is costing us the oldest golf course in Canada, threatening our watershed and habitat. We must do better!
Fiscal Leadership vs. complacency
I bring formal training and managerial experience running mid-size manufacturing businesses before operating my own business in the private sector for a quarter century. My client base consisted primarily of provincial & federal agencies and NGO’s. Project management, careful budgeting and taking
Capital asset management, strategic long-term planning, early critical project identification, and goal-oriented approach to budgeting. A professional approach to grants and funding applications.
ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP = SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Perth was specifically founded at the head of the Tay River to protect our inland waterways over two hundred years ago. And has honoured that legacy of environmental responsibility by guarding shorelines and preserving green spaces, including the site of what WAS the oldest (1892) Canadian public golf course in the country.
The locally owned public golf course was vulnerable to seasonal flooding and competition from privately funded clubs. The Owners offered to sell the property to the Town, but Council declined.
According to the Ottawa Citizen, CAIVAN, only purchased the Greens in 2021 after ”three positive rounds of pre-application consultation” with Perth Council members.
Three of these Perth Council members are seeking re-election this time round again.
CAIVAN submitted a development application in the spring of 2022. After the election of a slightly different Council that fall, a bigger, bolder CAIVAN proposal followed in May 2023. Perth Council ordered the Town's Director of Development to hold a public meeting to gauge reaction, and prepare a detailed technical report summarizing planning concerns.
When that report was released on August 10, 2023, current Mayoralty candidates Ed McPherson and David Bird immediately declared 'Conflicts of Interest' disqualifying themselves from debating, voting or participating in discussions on any matters relating to CAIVAN.
Within weeks CAIVAN headed to the Ontario Land Tribunal.
I am committed to supporting our collective duty of care to the environment going forward.
Send me your questions, comments and concerns
We will read all submissions and try to follow-up individually
