The first candidate has come forward and filed to run in Chatham-Kent election in Ward 4 – North Kent.
Dover farmer Leon Leclair has filed and is seeking re-election.
“I was the architect for the bridge committee,” Leclair said. “Some bridge builders in the community approached me and said we could do things differently. After a few meetings they convinced me to go forward and talk to some staff people and now the rest is history. We’ve seen great strides and cost avoidance, savings. That is community involvement and staff support.”
Leclair said involving the community will be one of his focal points if re-elected.
“Your voice does matter,” he said. “Help me with the solution… the bridge committee was just that.”
Leclair said with Chatham-Kent having 22 per cent of the drains in all of Ontario, 850 bridges, 19,000 culverts, he’d like to see more work being done in-house.
“I’m tired of being told we don’t have the expertise,” he said. “I think we should be hiring a few more knowledgeable staff people to look after our own consulting. We could save a lot of money by doing it in-house.”
Leclair added he plans on working closely with the agricultural committee and has ideas to turn Chatham-Kent into a food hub.
Leclair is the first out of the gate in North Kent for the 2014 election.
The other incumbent Joe Faas has not stated his intentions.
Election day is Oct. 27.
