Over nearly eight years on city council, Graham Bunting has learned a lot about how municipalities work, how you can’t please everyone and how council have to keep the needs of the many, not the few, at the forefront of their decision making.
“Council has to be strong, they have to be astute,” Bunting said in an interview with StratfordToday. “They have to understand that you are going to get resistance on many fronts, on many things. You have to do what is best for the community and not what is best for a small group of individuals. That is the key component that a lot of people don’t understand.”
Bunting, 74, will not seek re-election after two terms as a Stratford city councillor.
“My reason is birthdays. I have already had a bunch of them and there is a limited supply of them in the future,” Bunting said. “There are other things I would like to do.”
That will include continued commitments to growing soccer in the city, particularly strengthening soccer facilities.
Bunting admitted to a learning curve after being elected in 2014. His fellow two-term councillors – Kathy Vassilakos and Danielle Ingram are also not returning to councillor duties. Vassilakos is running for mayor and Ingram decided to focus on her family and other commitments.
“I thought I knew a lot more than I actually did. It was a huge learning curve, a shock to my system, I have to admit. It took the better part of a year or a year and a half to grasp and focus in on what they do, why they do it, and the requirements for a municipality to do certain things in a certain manner.”
Bunting said city council is sometimes like the famous line from Oliver Twist – the classic Charles Dickens novel – where municipalities are asking their provincial and federal counterparts for more (money).
That was certainly the case with the Queen Street trunk sewer project, which ended up well over budget when the final layer of asphalt was paved over recently at the north end of the street. It was the final big project completed from a massive overhaul of the city’s sewer systems, stemming from an east end flood that damaged numerous homes two decades ago.
On this project, the city was unable to get ‘more’ from other levels of government.
“The city did apply for some grants that came up and were not accepted, we tried a couple of times for grants. It gets to a point where…you need to watch, we don’t a repeat of what happened in the east end (flood) a few decades ago.”
Infrastructure projects are pricey and not something citizens rave about, but are necessary and getting major sewer projects completed is important for future generations, he said.
One of the projects that does capture the eye is the Market Square redevelopment. Bunting said it was a big improvement to the area near city hall, and moving the bus terminal to a ‘bigger and better’ location, after push back, seemed to appease the groups that were in opposition.
Bunting is satisfied that there are plans in place for the Grand Trunk Community Hub in the downtown core, after a number of years of legal hold-ups, some work has started on removing the roof.
“The fact that we do have a plan moving forward is great, and we’re hoping the city will be able to announce some progress on the development of the site.”
It will be more than a decade or more before it is finished, Bunting surmised.
“But the idea of the community hub…many hands make light work. It will be usable for youth, usable for seniors, the community in general. It will be wonderful someday. I hope I am around to see it.”
Bunting is proud of the new Tom Patterson Theatre and the city’s new affordable housing projects on Brittania Street. No project comes to fruition without a lot of controversy, he said. For Tom Patterson Theatre, the Stratford Festival’s newest venue, there was huge push back on selling ‘parkland’ – a parking lot with a ‘dilapidated tennis court’, lawn bowling area, and a building that needed a big refurbishment. The Kiwanis Centre, home to a vibrant seniors group, was full to capacity.
“Now we have this magnificent structure there, but there was a lot of push back.”
The proposed Xinyi Canada glass facility was controversial but Bunting maintains that council followed direction from legal counsel and that early negotiations over land and businesses locating in the city are in-camera and should stay there until council and/or the city can make concrete announcements.
“The city does a lot of negotiations for land and development behind the scenes. It comes out eventually but the negotiation component is in-camera. Our lawyer emphasized and was very sure to make a point that everything be in-camera. It has to be that way at that particular point.”
The project was criticized by local groups for a lack of transparency, including a request to the province for a minister’s zoning order to ensure the land could be used for that type of industry, sidestepping democratic processes, in the opinion of local opposition groups.
“Could we have done something different in hindsight, yes, the MZO, perhaps we went about it the wrong way. The frustration was clear. They maligned council considerably. It was hurtful, it did really bother me at the time. There was little we could do, we couldn’t push back.”
Council did vote to revoke the MZO and Xinyi indefinitely suspended the project.
“Perhaps it was a blessing that it fizzled out.”
Bunting came to learn that upsetting people while serving as a councillor is part of the job. He can say with confidence that he upset more people in eight years on council than in his 33-plus year career as a police officer.
“It is a fact of life. Some people think that because they voted for you have to think the same way as them. That is not the case, not workable. Upsetting people who I know personally is an unfortunate circumstance but I have do what is best for the city moving forward, the same goes for all of council.”
Bunting said he is proud to serve with a diverse group of individuals on council - in age, background, and how they see the world around them. The decisions they make, whether on a relatively small matter or a major choice that will impact the future of many, have to be thought out carefully, he said.
“Council has to vote yes or no. Are you in support or are you against it. It is difficult when I can see both sides. I listen to my fellow councillors and hear what they have to say. I have always worked with the principle that you learn a lot more by listening than you do talking.”
