Hello everyone,
It has been about three weeks since the last campaign update, and a great deal has happened.
I caught up with residents in Brooke, connected with several people considering public service, examined newly obtained election data, met with Jim Hutton alongside Thomas Arakal, and completed a detailed review of Owen Sound’s transit studies and ridership information.
What I heard in Brooke
As in several other parts of Owen Sound, the most common concerns raised in Brooke involved homelessness and drug addiction in the downtown core.
Most residents I spoke with were satisfied with conditions in Brooke itself. I also met someone who may be interested in serving the area as either a council candidate or local representative.
Local representation can adapt to the needs of each area. Some wards may need regular advocacy around safety, traffic, housing, infrastructure, or public services. In an area with few urgent concerns, the representative’s main planned task could be helping organize one annual family-friendly potluck or block party in a nearby park.
The gathering would give neighbours an easy reason to meet, welcome new residents, share food, let children play, and become familiar with their local representative. Preparing invitations and knocking on doors would also create a natural opportunity to hear local ideas and ensure residents know how to reach their representative.
Participation and food sharing would always be voluntary. Other activities could grow naturally from the interests and needs of local residents.
What Owen Sound’s election map revealed
Soon afterwards, Tamara Sargent registered as a candidate for Owen Sound City Council. She asked City staff many questions and obtained polling numbers and the polling subdivision map from the previous municipal election.
I turned that information into an interactive, colour-coded map so residents could understand it more easily.
You can explore:
Recorded electors across Owen Sound
Voter turnout by polling subdivision
Electors are spread fairly evenly across Owen Sound. The turnout and ballots-cast maps show that a much larger share of the people who vote live in the southern parts of the city.
Areas with higher turnout therefore have greater influence over election results, even where the number of electors is similar elsewhere.
A proposed ward map
This was also the first detailed information I had obtained about how electors are distributed across different parts of Owen Sound.
I used it to create a proposed seven-ward map.
The boundaries remain preliminary. The smallest proposed ward, North East, currently has approximately 1,803 electors, and the largest, Central, has approximately 2,574. More complete population data and public input could help produce better-balanced boundaries.
We are also changing some of the language in the representation plan. What we previously called neighbourhoods will now generally be called wards, and village leaders will be called local representatives.
The structure is simple:
Residents → Local Representative → Ward Councillor → City Council
Participating independent candidates
Several people have contacted me about potentially running for council, and some may register in the coming weeks. We are holding weekly meetings with participating independent candidates and people interested in serving as local representatives.
Candidates connected with this initiative will be described as participating independent candidates.
They share core commitments to transparency, participation, compassion, stronger local representation, and constructive cooperation. Each candidate keeps their own priorities and judgement and remains responsible for their own words, positions, decisions, and conduct.
Our weekly meetings have helped soften some of the harder edges people initially brought into the room. Through honest discussion, listening, patience, and respect, we are learning how to row together more constructively and in a spirit of compassion for all beings.
People can hold different views while approaching each other with humility, mutual respect, and a sincere desire to serve Owen Sound.
Council direction and public accountability
Thomas Arakal and I also met with Jim Hutton, who has spent considerable time reviewing Owen Sound’s budgets, staffing, services, and municipal decisions.
We discussed the outsized influence staff can have over council priorities, public meetings, and the information councillors receive.
One example involved a town hall approved by council so residents could engage with their elected representatives. After council approved the event, staff designed the session around presentations from various City departments. This changed the character of the meeting and limited the opportunity for residents to ask councillors direct questions and receive public answers.
Jim echoed something I had already come to understand: meaningful change will likely require at least five elected members who share core commitments such as transparency, participation, compassion, ward representation, and constructive cooperation.
A working majority could establish council’s direction, protect genuine public participation, examine alternatives, and ensure municipal decisions reflect the will of residents.
Staffing, management, and transparency
Owen Sound exists to provide useful, reliable services to the people who live here.
The City Manager should have practical experience leading a successful business or organization, with a demonstrated record of sound financial management, effective operations, and service delivery. That experience would help the City focus spending on the services residents need, use, and value, while improving efficiency, controlling costs, and delivering better value for taxes and municipal fees.
Jim Hutton’s analysis found approximately nine more management positions than necessary and a 30% increase in municipal staffing since 2012, even though Owen Sound’s population remained largely unchanged. This organizational growth raises operating costs and contributes to higher property taxes.
Council should review management layers, staffing levels, workloads, and service outcomes. Hiring and advancement should be based on merit, ability, experience, and performance. Every new position should require a clear service need and a public business case.
Full financial disclosure is a core part of transparency. Residents should be able to see how every City service is funded, staffed, and managed.
The City should publish:
- complete operating and capital budgets for every department and service
- audited financial statements as soon as they are available to City staff
- every municipal position, its salary, benefits, and total compensation
- reserve balances, debt, contracts, user-fee revenues, rate increases, and major spending variances
The Sunshine List already identifies the names and salaries of employees earning more than $100,000. Residents should also be able to see the salary and total compensation attached to every other municipal position.
Every dollar collected through property taxes, utility bills, service fees, licences, permits, and other municipal charges should be traceable from collection to final spending.
A better core bus route
Transit was another major subject of discussion. Tamara has also shown strong interest in improving Owen Sound’s bus system.
I reviewed the City’s transit studies, survey results, existing bus stops, ridership patterns, route timing, and the destinations people actually need to reach.
This led to a proposed core Hill Loop connecting:
Owen Sound District Secondary School → downtown transit terminal → Georgian College → Brightshores Hospital → 16th Street East shopping area → Heritage Place Mall → downtown → OSDSS.
One bus would travel clockwise and another counter-clockwise. Each direction would return approximately every 30 minutes, and riders at the downtown terminal would see a bus about every 15 minutes.
The remaining buses could provide direct service through Brooke and the West Side, along with a southern coverage route.
Jim’s analysis indicated that roughly half of Owen Sound residents could benefit from a reliable bus system that runs frequently and connects the places people need to reach. His figures indicated that approximately 9% of residents had visited the art gallery.
This comparison shows why council must examine reach, need, cost, reliability, and measurable public benefit when allocating limited resources. City spending should focus strongly on services residents use and benefit from in their daily lives.
Evening service until 10 p.m.
Evening service was the most requested improvement in the City’s transit survey, selected by 71% of respondents.
The proposed core route could operate until 10 p.m., helping hospital, retail, restaurant, college, and other shift workers reach their part of the city safely.
During lower-demand evening hours, the service could use a wheelchair-accessible minibus. The preliminary additional operating estimate is approximately $48,600 per year, subject to formal quotations.
For residents living beyond comfortable walking distance, the bus could provide the difficult hill crossing while a bicycle, walking route, or mobility device completes the flatter final portion of the journey.
The result would be one connected mobility network: frequent buses across both hills, direct neighbourhood routes, evening service for shift workers, and practical walking and cycling connections.
Thank you to everyone who has shared concerns, answered questions at the door, reviewed the maps, attended a meeting, or considered serving their community.
Andrii Zvorygin Candidate for Mayor of Owen Sound https://mayorofowensound.ca/
You must log in or # to comment.