Stratford councillor Mark Hunter announces run for mayor

The first time councillor is looking to bring different leadership style to mayor's seat.

Article content With just over a month until nominations for October’s municipal elections close, a second current Stratford councillor has thrown their hat into the ring to be the city’s next mayor. First time Coun. Mark Hunter announced that he will seek the city’s top government job.

Hunter, who is the president and in-house legal counsel for Hunter Steel, said he will bring a different leadership style to the position currently held by Martin Ritsma. Recommended Videos “I think that with the leadership that I would bring, I think we can get more things done just a little more effectively,” Hunter said, pointing to his experience in running a multi-million-dollar company. “Without bragging too much, I think I’m a good leader that way.

And what that means to me is working with people to help them maximize their potential, and that’s what I would like to do with our council.” If elected, Hunter would like to sit down very early in the new term with the rest of council to hold a strategy session where every member of council states where they would like to see the city in four years, but also in 12 years, with the goal of keeping their eyes on the long-term future of the city. “When we agree on what we’re going to do in the next four years, then the rest just becomes getting the work done,” he said.

“I think that in that process we would also be communicating with the community, ‘Hey, this is the work we’re going to get done in the next four years.’ When we agree on that list, we’re going to have to either get it done or have a good reason why, and be communicating that with the public.” As the councillor leading the city’s legal challenge against the province over Strong Mayor powers, he added that it’s another reason he is running.

“While I did take a leadership role in that, it was a council decision where we all agreed that this was important for our community,” he added. Council also needs to get more creative on how it funds the city, he continued, including reining in tax increases and finding savings in areas that are less critical to fund those that are more important, such as roads, Hunter said. As the end of Hunter’s first term on council nears, many of the same challenges that the city faced then are still relevant today, including infrastructure, housing and the Grand Trunk project, he added.

“Those three are all still relevant in this campaign. We still need to get more money put into our infrastructure. We still need to do something with housing, and we’ve got to keep the Grand Trunk project moving ahead.”

Hunter now joins fellow Coun. Jo-Dee Burbach, who announced her campaign in late May. While he has not officially announced, Ritsma previously confirmed to the Beacon Herald that he will run for re-election.

Christopher Burrell is the only other candidate who has officially been nominated. While Hunter said he respects his two fellow council members “a great deal,” he thinks he brings a slightly different approach. “My approach is going to be more leadership focused with (a focus on) really getting things done, and that’s important to me,” he said.

“And not that they’re not both good as well, but I think my style is just different than theirs.”