In a second round open vote, John Divinski is now the new Saugeen Shores Councilor replacing John Rich who recently resigned.
Divinski, former News Director, Anchor and reporter for 98the Beach radio with Bayshore Broadcasting, brings to Council an extensive background of Municipal procedures and protocols having dealt with town staff and Council members in his former news capacity.
“I would be a fresh face with fresh ideas,” said Divinski.
Each candidate gave a two-minute presentation that was followed up with a randomly selected question that had to be answered.
When asked what Divinski saw as the biggest challenge for Saugeen Shores, he answered saying, “As the fastest growing community in Bruce County, that is also the biggest challenge for Saugeen Shores. As we grow rapidly, it is imperative to assure that development is carefully planned so as to not over-tax an infrastructure that we have in place. Development charges take care of the infrastructure servicing new builds, but there are other things such as road use, drinking water, waste water and services that need to be able to handle the extra use of our facilities.”
“Aesthetically, many believe that Saugeen Shores is a unique community and we don’t want to lose that flavour,” he added. “Unfortunately, sometimes that is lost in growth and Council must keep a close eye on that. Growth and expansion correctly done means more jobs with shops and services gravitating to serve the community. If you have that, you have a place for small industry and we have employment lands, such as Lamont Sports Park, that would be perfect for that kind of thing. All the growth in the tourism industry is dependent on the fact that the town grows carefully.”
Divinski summarized saying, “These are the challenges that I see as a community as we go forward,”