Ed McGugan - Councillor Candidate

Ed McGugan, Lucknow, ON
519-812-1004
mcguganed@gmail.com

Photograph of Ed McGugan looking at the camera

Priorities:

Representation. Leadership is good. It is required. But representation is more important. The ratepayers, the taxpayers and residents of this township actually own the “Corporation of the Township of Huron-Kinloss”.

It is critical that we listen to the “owners”. We must hear, go and see, and understand what the issues are. It is not good enough to just look at a map or a report. Those are important and very valuable. But they are not enough.

My Story:

  • Happily married to my college sweetheart for over 39 years.

  • Five grown children, a bunch of additions to the family including a few grandchildren.

  • 40 years experience in engineering design and management including owning and operating my own design consulting company, now retired.

  • We also purchased the family farm so we milked our own herd of 40 Jersey cows for 17 years.

  • Reading. Love to read, love the library.

  • Working with wood - cabinets, furniture, fine boxes, turning, musical instruments.

  • Love to sing, play the guitar.

Experience:

Have been on the Huron-Kinloss Council for the last four years. Was assigned to the SMART Board, the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority Board; elected Vice Chair, and also the alternate for the Lucknow and District Fire Services Board. Have contributed to the Council and Boards with my experience with managing resources and people with a particular emphasis on visiting directly with the people on site, where possible, as well as talking by phone when the conditions required or suited a phone conversation. We have worked hard to manage our shared resources carefully with an eye both to carefully controlling our costs as well as keeping an eye to the future. Will we need to continue that? Of course. Changing conditions and opportunities will require continued vigilance and attention to detail.

We have had a very challenging situation over the last few years and that has required us to be very adaptable as well as very determined to be on point when costs and programs could easily have gotten way out of hand.

The Staff employed by Huron-Kinloss have been very good in my experience and we can be very grateful for their continued commitment to serving the people in our township. It has not been easy. The working conditions through the last couple of years has been challenging and has certainly strained everyone to a greater or lesser extent. But we have all persevered and everything seems to have continued to move forward on an even (fairly even) keel.

And things will continue to change. Inflation has, and is continuing to bite into our budget, and it will have an impact on our plans. Some project bids and services have come back shockingly more expensive and we are going to have to make some tough decisions. We are not in the business of miracles though, so we will have to make some careful and well thought out decisions. And, we will need to consult very carefully with the residents and ratepayers in Huron-Kinloss so that we can make the most effective, and responsible decisions possible that yield the greatest benefit for all of us.

I would appreciate your vote. I may not always be able to agree with you but I will listen carefully and work hard to represent your thoughts and concerns to both Staff and to the Council.

And, I may still need to be that guy who is willing to stand alone and disagree with everyone else on Council if that's what it takes to represent you.

That is my commitment to you.

Thank you for this opportunity.