Ex-mayor praises Stouffville council, 'dispappointed' by staff departures
Now living in Georgina, regional chair addresses chamber of commerce

YorkRegion.com
Feb. 1, 2016
By Sandra Bolan  

He’s no longer Whitchurch-Stouffville’s mayor. He doesn’t even live here anymore, but Wayne Emmerson knows how to draw a crowd.

About 80 local business people, politicians and residents were at Meadowbrook Golf Club bright and early this morning to listen to Emmerson, now York Region’s CEO and chairperson, speak during a Stouffville Chamber of Commerce networking breakfast.

“This is the best community in York Region and I know it’s in good hands,” Emmerson said.

Most of his presentation was spent explaining exactly what the region takes care of. because “we do a lot of things you take advantage of every day.”

Among the services that come under the region are police, paramedics, transit, public health, as well as social assistance and housing.

The region and municipalities share waste, water, sewage, roads, planning, economic development, emergency planning, courts and borrowing/tax collection.

According to Emmerson, Whitchurch-Stouffville’s taxes, which were just increased by 3.47 per cent, are the fourth lowest in York Region.

“This council is doing a great job, as the previous councils have,” he said.

Much of Emmerson’s last term as mayor was spent putting a library/leisure centre expansion plan in place so all the new council had to do was approve it, fund it and build it.

This council, instead, opted for a scaled down expansion of their own making.

“Remember me saying though, many, many times, you can do all you want but I said when it comes to election time, they can undo it all and it’s gone,” Emmerson told The Sun-Tribune in a one-on-one interview held after his presentation.

“It was planned right. We talked to the public, we got their support. We got to what we thought was best for the community. They decided not to. That happens all the time,” he told The Sun-Tribune.

Although Emmerson is at arms-length to what is happening in Whitchurch-Stouffville, he knows about the town’s staff turnover during the past year.

In 2015, 12 town employees voluntarily left, which is an 8 per cent turnover rate and within the industry average of 5 to 15 per cent, according to Marc Pourvahidi, Whitchurch-Stouffville’s CAO.

CAOs to mayoral assistants have been replaced.

“It’s disappointing,” Emmerson told The Sun-Tribune. “Because when you have good staff there for a long time, they have a history and they know what’s happening. … You can’t get it in a book.  You can’t write it all down. You take it with you.”

“I’m not inside the (town) hall. I don’t know what happens. It’s disappointing. … I think it’s going to be tough to replace some really good people. But move on,” he said.

About three months ago, Emmerson and his wife Debra, left Whitchurch-Stouffville for Georgina and a home they renovated along Lake Simcoe.

“I don’t really think they wanted me in Stouffville anymore,” Emmerson told the Sun-Tribune, laughing, about the move from the town he lived in his entire life.

It came down to logistics. They had two properties – one in Whitchurch-Stouffville and another on Balsam Lake, near Lindsay.

When they retire, Balsam Lake will be too far from their children and grandkids, so they compromised on Georgina.

“It’s been working out really well,” he told The Sun-Tribune. “It was sad to leave. We miss it. I do miss Stouffville. Stouffville’s been my home and it’s been great. Listen, times change.”