St. Pierre not seeking re-election as mayor

It’s official. Mayor Gerry St. Pierre will not be seeking re-election in the upcoming municipal election.

That is what he told the Leader on Aug. 15.

When St. Pierre entered the mayoral race four years ago, he said right from the onset that he only planned to serve in the office for one term.

“My main objective when I ran was to build a swimming pool and to rectify our issues in shared funding with the County of Barrhead, especially in terms of recreation,” he said. “The pool’s been built and hopefully we will soon have a favourable resolution with a new operational cost recreation agreement.”

That being said, St. Pierre said he is considering running for councillor.

“I still have a month to change my mind, but as of today I will be running for councillor,” he said.

It is a position he has held before from 1998 to 2004.

At the time, St. Pierre recalls the big issue of the day was whether or not the town should build the Agrena.

“I think most people agree that it was the right decision for our community just like the aquatic centre was,” he said.

However, St. Pierre said for a while, in late winter-early spring, there was a time he was considering running for re-election.

“Before my wife suddenly passed away, there was a time when I was almost certain I would run for mayor again,” he said. “But now I think I need some resemblance of flexibility and I’m not sure I could put my whole heart and soul into the responsibilities of being mayor.”

St. Pierre added the time required as mayor is considerable, more than being a councillor and a person needs to think whether it is something they are able or willing to commit to.

As for what he considers this council’s biggest accomplishment St. Pierre said he believes most people would say it is the aquatic centre.

“I’m quite proud of what we have accomplished as a council in the last four years. To be able to come to negotiate and build a pool, one that is right for the community, while being able to maintain our goals regarding infrastructure,” he said, noting at the same time the overall development in town, as denoted by the number of development permits, has been steady. “But to be honest with you, what I think our biggest accomplishment and what created the most tension [between town and county] is setting the record straight.”

St. Pierre added he did not realize until about two years into his term that the majority of both town and county residents believed that the municipalities were equally sharing the operational costs of the area’s major recreation facilities.

Part of the confusion, he believes, stemmed from the fact that at one time the municipalities did share recreation costs equally.

“But that hasn’t happened since 1992,” he said, adding since then they have been paying a lump sum amount and gradually increasing it every year. “Not nearly enough to keep up to inflationary costs.”

The town estimates that the county’s contribution to operational costs to be between 14 and 16 per cent, depending on the facility.

“But we put out that famous pie chart a couple of years ago explaining the distribution of [recreation operational] costs and the residents of our community responded. They understand the importance of recreation facilities, that they are an essential service,” St. Pierre said. “It is unfortunate that this issue has created so much tension between the town and county because almost every other shared service we share, whether it be the fire service, FCSS, the library and the landfill, just to think of a few, it’s all 50/50.”