District of Muskoka Council has adjourned its inaugural meeting of the 2022-2026 term and officially appointed the next District of Muskoka Chair.
The first order of business was swearing in the twenty-two elected District councillors, who will now represent the voices of each partner municipality in Muskoka. Amy Back, District Clerk, administered their Oaths of Office to officially commence their term.
This term welcomes 12 returning familiar faces and 10 new members – all of whom now have seats reserved at the council table for the next four years.
The 2022-2026 District Council
- Town of Bracebridge: Rick Maloney, Don Smith, Brenda Rhodes, Tatiana Sutherland
- Township of Georgian Bay: Peter Koetsier, Brian Bochek, Peter Cooper
- Town of Gravenhurst: Heidi Lorenz, Sandy Cairns, Erin Strength, Peter M. Johnston
- Town of Huntsville: Nancy Alcock, Scott Morrison, Dan Armour, Bob Stone
- Township of Lake of Bays: Terry Glover, Robert Lacroix, Mike Peppard
- Township of Muskoka Lakes: Peter Kelley, Guy Burry, Allen Edwards, Ruth Nishikawa
Jeff Lehman appointed to the office of the District of Muskoka Chair
The next item on the agenda was to appoint the next District chair. This critical role and how this position is appointed is prescribed by the Municipal Act and the District’s Procedure By-law. The District chair acts as the Chief Executive Officer and provides leadership for the affairs of council – they are the spokesperson for the region of Muskoka and are responsible for maintaining strong relationships with various organizations and senior levels of government on behalf of the upper-tier municipality.
Six candidates submitted applications to be considered by District council for the position. Curry Clifford, Jeffry Lehman, Terry Pilger, Howard Rosenthal, Don Smith, and Tim Withey came together at a ‘Meet the Candidates Debate’ event last week.
On Monday, twenty-two members of District Council cast their votes via a secret ballot with District clerk Amy Back and District solicitor Jamie Clow on hand to monitor and validate the process.
District council appointed Jeff Lehman to the office of the District chair, for the 2022-2026 term.
John Klinck – who has served as District Chair for the last three consecutive terms and announced his retirement after 28 years, was in attendance to offer his congratulations as he passed the Chain of Office on to Lehman.
Lehman was Mayor of Barrie from 2010-2022, and comes from an economics and urban planning background. Lehman and his partner Carolina have four children and a deep love for Muskoka. “I’m absolutely delighted and honoured to be chosen by District council to serve as chair. It’s an enormous task to follow the tremendous leadership of John Klinck and move the District forward, but I hope my experience can support our new council as we tackle the challenges Muskoka faces and make a positive difference for our residents,” he said.
Lehman will lead the next District council meeting, scheduled for December 19, 2022. Council meetings are held every third Monday of each month and are available for online viewing via webcast at the District of Muskoka’s website, here.
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Brian Thompson says
Brian Thompson
There wasn’t much doubt as to this outcome….First, Mayors of Central Muskoka Towns were already ready to endorse Lehman and then with the endorsement of the Muskoka Lakes Association and the Friends of Muskoka and the three Bracebridge District Councillors (also endorsed by the MLA-FOM) as well as the support of all four Muskoka Lakes Councillors and Sandy Cairns from Gravenhurst (an MLA and FOM supporter) it was a done deal. Not sure how the DoM Councillors from Lake of Bays would have voted but the rest of the candidates might as well of dropped out when Lehman announced his candidacy. But on the bright side, finally after 40 years, there is a District Chairman from somewhere other than Gravenhurst or Bracebridge…even if he is a part-time resident of Huntsville/Lake of Ba
Roger Staig says
Congratulations to Jeff Lehman. Also Congratulations to District members who chose the most qualified candidate rather than a good old local boy.
Anyone who has watched CTV news will recognize Jeff
as an accomplished community builder.
There is hope for our world !
Bill Beatty says
The nail was easy to hit on the head with this one Brian ! Enjoy Your ” Retirement ” . I sure have .
Bill Wright says
I agree totes with Brian T…..
About time for a change of leadership to a well qualified and respected person…esp since Regional and district Governance was created by that “Blue” party that created a windfall for all the Real Estate agents to profit by double ending land deals associated with the creation of Townsend in Norfolk County in the Eighties as it rose, and then failed…they bought the land for the Government, then sold it back..
Basically, some red is needed in this blue territory.
Congratulations, Jeff! May you do well and overcome the naysayers…..
John Rivière-Anderson says
Best wishes to the new District Chair and Council for success in combatting the insidious and nefarious provincial government erosion of our environment and democracy. Clearly, in collaboration with our municipal representatives, you are closest to the people of Muskoka. We depend on you to decry and refuse political, economic and evironmental abuses. We count on your vigilance to safeguard, long-term, our local control over our children’s future.
RICHARD J CORCELLI says
Not sure where old friend Brian Thompson gets his Muskoka District Chair election results data, but as my family, and newly elected District Councillor, daughter Erin Strength, saw the vote first hand in the Council chamber, one opines that Gravenhurst Councillor Cairns most likely did not support new Chair Jeff Lehman.
Recently defeated Gravenhurst mayoralty candidate, Terry Pilger, secured only one vote in his candidacy for District Chair. After reading the ‘goat’s entrails’ over the course of the last term of Council, Mr. Pilger consistently voted in lock step with Councillor Cairns, and vice versa, most glaringly in voting against the acquisition of a new aerial ladder truck for the fire department, which was finally passed in a narrow majority.
It’s not entirely unreasonable to guess that Mr. Pilger’s sole vote came from his longtime political ally.
Unsuccessful Huntsville District Chair candidate Withey, may have sealed his fate by focusing only on health care in his pre-vote remarks and by mentioning only the towns of Huntsville and Bracebridge.
Years ago, District Councillors both voted in a secret ballot, and then publicly declared whom they had supported, a sometimes politically embarrassing revelation. Today, as with Brian and me, one can only guess!
Sandy McLennan says
I attended the meeting where candidates vying to be Chair spoke and each answered the same questions from the moderator and the public (there was no debate). I was there as a citizen interested in the process (newly more-so as my son, Huntsville’s own Thomas McLennan, has recently been elected as a city councillor in Yellowknife) and had no horse in the race. The meeting was very well run and each of the candidates gave a different degree of impression. I had never heard of Jeff Lehman yet when I got home I pronounced him as my favourite presenter.
I wish him and all the councillors well. It’s good they step up to serve. It’s a changing time in Muskoka with population growth in massive evidence. Good luck to us all.