Concerned Citizens Coalition of Norfolk interviews five Norfolk mayoral candidates

Chris Abbott

Editor

Full interview answers available on the CCCNC website

The Concerned Citizens Coalition of Norfolk (CCCNC) recently did a deep-dive series of interviews with Norfolk County’s mayoral candidates.

Detailed, full results of five interviews (two candidates who were invited did not participate) can be found on their website at norfolkconcernedcitizens.my.canva.site (You might not find it with an internet search, but copy and paste the address into your brower’s URL and that will take you to the site).

Participating mayor candidates were: Doug Brunton, David Finch, Ken Hewitt, Keith Milner, and Adam Veri. Click on their portraits shown on the CCCNC website to read their pre-interview and interview questions and answers.

You will find Intro Remarks for CCCNC’s recently launched website, CCCNC member bios to learn more about the interviewers, CCCNC's scoping exercise, and pre-interview questions/answers.

And, of course, summary reports for the five interviews, some of which took 2-3 hours to complete.

Interview sections focus on property tax and affordability, water and sewer rates, infrastructure, staffing and their first 100 days as mayor, and budget reform.

It’s an enormous investment in time and energy, both from candidates and citizen-led coalition of retired professionals, and they identify key issues in Norfolk County. It is very much worth taking the time to read them.

Seven members of the coalition (CCCNC) are: Ian Neville (Chair) P. Eng., B.Tech., MPA., PWLF; Geoff Saldanha. P.Eng., B.Eng., M.Eng.; Norman Swain  P.Eng, B.Sc.; Mary Lu Haggith RPN; George Cornfield; Pat Mercuri B. Tech, CIM, CFP, CSA; and Susan Pettit RN.

They include former municipal clerks, retired accountants, retired lawyers, and HR and Planning.

Their task was to collect – in a non-partisan manner – detailed information to help voters make an informed decision for the position of Norfolk County Mayor. The CCCNC does not endorse candidates or parties or rank the candidates.  

Below is an abbreviated example of the first questions and their answers. Full answers are all on the CCCNC website (norfolkconcernedcitizens.my.canva.site).

SECTION 1: Property Taxes & Affordability

“With back-to- back tax increases of 4.3% in 2025 and 5.5 % in 2026, what specific spending items would you cut or defer to bring future tax increases below inflation and what services would you protect at all costs?”

Adam Veri: My plan is to initiate a municipal services review, which may lead to a reallocation of resources, improved delivery efficiency, or cost reductions. Residents will also receive a better understanding of service costs and the benefits services they are unfamiliar with provide to the larger community.

Taxpayers and residents will have opportunities to provide feedback on the services they want and need (or conversely, identify services that no longer deliver a benefit that makes the cost worthwhile). 

The review could be added to the CAO’s workplan or conducted by a third party. The CAO approach would eliminate the tendering process and additional costs of hiring a consultant.

Keith Milner: All budget line items and associated costs are on the table. This includes staffing.

In 2025, 120 Norfolk capital projects were completed and closed. Twelve of the projects closed with expenditures over the approved budget. 108 projects were over-estimated and closed under budget - some with double digit reserve amounts. I want to know why, and I want to make sure our costing estimates that make up the yearly tax rate are sharpened.

My goal is to reduce County spending in order that the tax rate can be reduced not increased. While I know that as Mayor, I have the ultimate responsibility in making this a reality, I expect the full cooperation of Council in achieving this. I also plan on utilizing the expertise and knowledge from our community to ensure sound decisions and planning are in effect going forward.

Ken Hewitt: My experience as Mayor taught me that Council's role is to set clear financial expectations and outcomes, while the CAO and senior management determine how best to deliver services within those parameters. 

I would direct the CAO to present both the operating and capital budgets at inflation or less. Staff should identify what is essential, what can be deferred or eliminated, and where service delivery can be improved through efficiencies and coordination. Council would then make transparent choices among those options. Most municipal services are important, but the County cannot be the answer to everything; it must distinguish essential services from non-essential spending and address programs that no longer provide sufficient value.

David Finch: The primary reason d'être of the municipality is public infrastructure such as roads, water, sewer, emergency services. Those areas are the things we must avoid making deferrals of expenditures or cuts to. 

Other proposed projects that do not have significant fundraising ongoing by the public need to reassessed as to whether they should be deferred or cut. Areas that we may need to cut are administrative functions. Are we "right sized" for staffing? I don't know. What is our staff to supervisor/manager ratio? These are very hard to parse out from publicly available documents. The span of control recommended by most experts in management range from 11 employees per supervisor in low risk/hazard positions (i.e. clerical staff) to three staff per supervisor in high risk/hazard positions (i.e. firefighting). I suspect we are top heavy in supervisor/managers in administration areas and light in emergency service.

Doug Brunton: First, there are three budgets: Rate, Capital, and Levy. The only way you can reduce all three of those budgets is to be more efficient and review staffing and infrastructure.

Staff wages and salaries are 60% of our costs.  As for infrastructure, we must reduce the number of projects through prioritizing based on needs "not wants" and apply for provincial funding when possible.  I would protect water and waste water, transportation and areas of health care.  Health care would include garbage collection, paramedics, and fire.