Bill Roberts

Sophiasburgh Ward Six

Bill Roberts and his wife Sharon have been part of Prince Edward County in one way or another since the 1970s and have been living in Sophiasburgh for almost 20 years. Sharon has been a public school teacher in Quinte for over 30 years. In the past, Roberts, who has a masters degree in business administration, was a managing director of TVOntario and president and CEO of VisionTV. “I know how to read a balance sheet and encourage people,” he said. “And I have extensive not-for-profit governance and board of directors experience.”

During the present council term, Roberts served on the Sophiasburgh recreation committee; sat on the nominating committee for Council; represented Council as a founding member of the Quinte Region Drowning Prevention Coalition; continued his “Monthly Club” involvement with the Prince Edward Memorial Hospital Foundation’s “Back The Build”; and was a director on the Interim Board of Directors for the new “VisitPEC” destination marketing and management organization.

In the previous term of Council, he was chair of the Community and Economic Development Commission, which refocused the CEDC on performance metrics and measurable, transparent goals and added youth representation; served on the Ad Hoc Working Group that developed a grants/assistance program for young and new farmers; was a member of the PEC Affordable Housing Task Force, which culminated in Council’s creation of the PEC Affordable Housing Corporation; represented Council on the working group that prevented the closure of Sophiasburgh Central School and created The County Food Hub (“the kitchen that saved a rural school”); and was active on Council’s Museum Advisory Committee, advocating for more inclusive history and engagement with Indigenous neighbours.

During the pandemic, Roberts was involved with sourcing and distributing free personal protective equipment (PPE) for the county hospital and food banks. He also worked with Community Care for Seniors, Kinsmen and others to deliver food to shutins, seniors, and the homeless. Through The Country Foundation, he personally provided County high school graduate bursaries for college/university studies in Indigenous studies and in farm innovation/agricultural studies and he also participated in the “100 People Who Care” program, which distributes between $9,000 to $12,000 four times a year to PEC registered charities.

“Coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic, we need on-board expertise to knowledgeably address community and economic recovery and measurable progress, be it traditional infrastructure (County Road 49), or digital infrastructure to close rural cell phone coverage gaps and provide high-speed rural Internet connectivity, or social infrastructure to better support social mobility and economic opportunity for all, or health infrastructure as in exploring the potential for nurse practitioners,” Roberts said.

With affordable housing being one of the key issues facing Council, he pointed out he was active in the working group that led to the Prince Edward County Affordable Housing Corporation and has been a strong supporter of Kate’s Rest on Big Island, the only residential and supportive homeless shelter in Quinte. Kate’s Rest is now an accredited charitable foundation.

“My own goal for the next 12 months is to push hard for 500-plus new affordable housing units in PEC,” said Roberts, who believes that improving high-speed Internet connectivity and fixing inconsistent cell gap coverage will help attract younger families to the area.

On the issue of managing tourism in the County, he said the new Destination Marketing and Management Organization (VisitPEC) will address any concerns. “I’m confident that a balanced approach will be top of mind both conceptually and operationally,” he said.

Roberts also said the issue of rising water rates is on his radar.

“We’re in tough on water and wastewater,” he said. “And residents have a right to be deeply concerned about rescue plans, more studies, ad hoc committees, dipping into reserves, and steady cost increases. The safety of our water is fully (even super) compliant… but it’s increasingly unaffordable, a pressure on fixed-income individuals, and the six separate water systems (and two different wastewater systems) are logically inefficient.”

He said one solution could be to tap into the County’s volunteer expertise, particularly among the 4,000 or so actual water customers. “We should explore the feasibility and potential benefits of a PEC Water/Wastewater Authority or Commission made up predominantly of users who pay. I understand that other rural Ontario municipalities have gone this route and cut costs, so let’s at least examine why and how,” he said.

When asked about whether enough attention is given to heritage, environmental sustainability, stewardship and protection, Roberts replied, “In any human endeavour, there is always room for improvement. But we’ve come a long way despite the unwelcome ‘telephone-pole in our spokes’ provided by Covid-19.”

He said great progress has been made with the new Official Plan, the Environmental Advisory Committee, and the volunteer sector with initiatives like the South Shore Joint Initiative. He also pointed to “the robust and innovative work of our museums, Shire Hall’s proactive approach to ensuring that the special places in the County are protected for present and future generations, our public engagement on heritage conservation districts, and our grant programs.”

When confronting the issue of the size of council, he said the present size (14 councillors and the mayor) was “a fair and thoughtful compromise in 2015 given the context at the time.” But he added that he has long favoured “greater efficiencies of time and resources in government by rationalizing the political wards. “We have 26,000 people and 14 council members (while) our neighbour Kingston has a population of 137,000 and 13 council members and Belleville with a population of 50,000 has nine council members and Quinte West has 13 council members for a population of 45,000.”

Roberts said the County should consider having nine councillors (three political wards of three councillors each) plus a mayor for a total of 10 council members. “That is warranted and practical,” he said, adding: “But timing is everything and, in these uncertain times, the immediate task at hand is cohesive municipal action to emerge postpandemic from Covid-19 with robust economic and community well-being.”