After an eight-year absence, she could be a significant factor as the incoming city council members await the Nov. 16 swearing-in ceremony.Former city councillor and then mayor Heather Jackson polled 5,208 votes, the fifth-highest among the eight councillors.
We spoke at length with her this past week, and she admitted the support from city voters was “humbling.”
She opened the conversation with, “I really appreciate the support from the community. And it’s certainly humbling to see those numbers when I’ve been off for eight years. I had a lot of people reaching out for me to even just consider running. So I knew there was some support out there. But when the numbers came in, I was certainly surprised.”
She added that she was surprised by the loss of three incumbents in the Oct. 26 vote. Resulting in a significantly new-look council.
“I think it’s a great group, a great mix of experience, some new faces. And, you know, I’m really looking forward to this. It’s been eight years that I’ve been away from the council table, but certainly have kept in touch with what’s going on. And I’m really looking forward to being back.”
It’s a city with a dramatically different environment from the St. Thomas she served as mayor for two terms.
There’s been a huge amount of development under way. Of course, with that comes concerns about how quickly the community is growing.
“I think I read something on the weekend that said that we all need to get on the bus. And I’m sorry, but I was elected because I believe that the bus may be going too quickly or may be going in the wrong direction. So for the new head of council to make that kind of a public statement and really look down their nose at the new incoming members of council was quite disappointing to read.”Jackson continued, “I’m elected to represent the people who have voted for me. To be their voice in council chambers, and to look at things a lot more critically. We can’t just keep voting yes to everything that’s put in front of us.
“You know, I understand there was at least one member of the last council that, no matter what the report said, voted in favour of it because staff was telling them that’s what they should do. And that is not the role of a member of council.
“The role is to question things, and to make the best decisions for the community that you’re representing. And that may not mean agreeing 100 per cent with staff all the time.
“And I think we need to make it very clear that council is the one that sets the direction, the policies, everything. And then staff brings back those recommendations for council to make the final decision on.”
Council will have precious little time to get up to speed as members will quickly begin deliberations on the 2027 city budget.
“And here we have another financial situation that came up Monday with Emslie Field (see the two items below). And the suggestion that maybe we should go with a more expensive plan. Well, there are wants and needs. And, you know, the same as setting our own budgets at home, we need to look at what the needs are. Absolute needs first, and then go from there.
“But there are some things that we’ll have to put some serious thought into: what are the needs for the community and what are the wants. And, you know, there are always some things that kind of fall in between. And we’re going to have to be really considerate of each other too at the council table . . .”
“There are certainly a lot of emotions attached to our budget process, and I know it’s not going to be easy. We’re starting with a number that’s probably higher than we want to start with, which means we need to be really considerate of the community. Think about everyone who pays taxes, including ourselves.
“As members of council, we are paying those taxes as well. I don’t want my taxes to go up. So we need to do our best. We need to do what we can to keep that number down as low as we can. And we know that there are contractual obligations that we have to adhere to. We know that every collective agreement has numbers in it that get plugged into the budget. Those things we can’t change.
“But there are some things that we’ll have to put some serious thought into: what are the needs for the community and what are the wants. And, you know, there are always some things that kind of fall in between. And we’re going to have to be really considerate of each other too at the council table, especially when it’s the first budget for a few folks, and they haven’t had the opportunity to review the city’s budget and have these discussions in the past.
“So, again, the statement of get on the bus and basically what I read between the lines was, you know, get on the bus, sit down and just agree with what we want. That really isn’t how I’m going into this process.”
This year’s budget resulted in a six per cent increase in the municipal tax levy. This caught Jackson by surprise, as it was an election year.
“I understand from the budget presentation this year that reserve funds are pretty low. So when you’re making decisions to try and lower the impact of a tax increase by taking money out of reserves, it’s not the best budgeting.”
“But when you look at the past number of years, that’s what happens when you have really low increases in your budget, and you’re trying to keep those numbers down. It’s inevitable that we’re going to hit a point where the numbers are going to be higher than we like because we’re running into contracts that have been renegotiated. We’re looking at major projects on the go, and maybe we need to pause some of those for a bit. Redirect funds.
“There are a lot of pieces to the city budget, and I know it’s not going to be easy at all.”
She continued, “This will set the course for the following year’s budgets and other things coming at us as well. You know, I understand from the budget presentation this year that reserve funds are pretty low. So when you’re making decisions to try and lower the impact of a tax increase by taking money out of reserves, it’s not the best budgeting.
“The reserves are there for reasons and are not meant to just be a one-time tax reduction. As we know, then, we’re already starting behind the ball the next time around. So, if we’re going to use reserve funds, they need to be used appropriately and for what they were put aside for.”
“We need, as new members of council, to be able to ask the questions that we need to. And if that means saying to the bus driver, ‘Hold on a minute, you’ve got to wait. We need some answers before we can jump on or off the bus.’”
Jackson would like a closer accounting of costs associated with the Yarmouth Yards industrial park.
“I want to make sure that we’re fully aware of everything that needs to go into Yarmouth Yards. Even if something doesn’t need to be there until five years from now, we need to be doing a little bit better planning in advance.”
Which brought the conversation around to a significant plank in her campaign platform: the lifespan of the Green Lane landfill site.
“In 2035, all of the landfills in the province are anticipated to be at capacity. We’re not rushing out trying to figure out those steps. I know the City of Toronto is, and they own our landfill, but we shouldn’t be waiting for their decision. We should be making our own plans because, regardless of what they decide to do with the landfill, we have to find options for our community.”
Garbage is just one of the considerations associated with residential growth and the industrial development at Yarmouth Yards, reminded Jackson.
“We need snow removal, and the grass in parks needs to be cut. So those all mean more people need to be hired at some point. And making sure that we have those laid out in our plans going forward so we know we’ve got to add X number of police officers. We need to make sure that our community is safe.
“So if we know what our population growth is anticipated to be, we should be able to match that with our emergency services growth as well. “So that when we reach those points, we’ve already got some funds set aside and we know how we’re going to fund all of these things.”
Jackson confirmed she will be sitting down with Jeff Kohler closer to the Nov. 16 inaugural meeting of the new council.
“We need, as new members of council, to be able to ask the questions that we need to. And if that means saying to the bus driver, ‘Hold on a minute, you’ve got to wait. We need some answers before we can jump on or off the bus.’
“And we need to be given that opportunity as new members of council to make that decision on whether we’re on the bus or not.
“I am here as a member of council and as a team member at that table to move our community forward.”
That includes attending to the relationship with neighbouring municipalities.
“I think we need to maybe do a little team building, get together, and then we need to be looking at some of those joint projects, including waste management and then some other items moving forward.
“But, let’s get through budget and see where we land. Because I know it’s not going to be an easy budget. And I think it’s going to take a lot of our time to really focus on the needs of the community.”
EMSLIE FIELD GRANDSTAND . . . WHICH OPTION?
In baseball parlance, discussions related to the future of the Emslie Field grandstand are in a rain delay.
This past Monday (Nov. 2), council discussed the various options, including the lifespan of the grandstand based on the option chosen and potential opportunities to expand uses.
Instead of demolishing the existing grandstand (Option 3) that dates back to 1938, Cody Montgomery, Manager of Parks and Forestry, recommended minimal structural rehabilitation with Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) upgrades.
The cost of Option 2 is in the range of $790,000.Option 1 would entail a full rehabilitation estimated at $1.172 million.
Coun. Gary Clarke opened the discussion by suggesting the latter option would provide better value for the money spent, as the refurbished grandstand would have a lifespan of about 50 years.
Whereas Option 2 offers a grandstand lifespan of roughly 15 years.
Coun. Steve Wookey was also in favour of exploring Option 1, because of reduced maintenance costs down the road.
Asked to comment, finance director Adam Boylan advised moving further discussion into the 2027 budget deliberations.
As Coun. Clarke reminded, the ultimate decision on the future of the grandstand will be up to the incoming council.
And so, while it seems evident the grandstand will not be demolished, the extent of rehabilitation efforts will be left until budget talks.
We spoke with Derek Brooks, spokesperson for St. Thomas Minor Baseball of the future of the grandstand, and that item is below.
PUTTING MONEY WHERE THEIR BATS ARE
St. Thomas Minor Baseball has committed $100,000 toward rehabilitation of the grandstand, “contingent upon preservation of the existing structure,” and other community supporters have expressed interest in contributing financially to restoration efforts.
We spoke this week with Derek Brooks from minor baseball about the financial support and pushback on social media about the city supporting rehabilitation of the Emslie Field grandstand with taxpayer dollars.
“We’ve got $100,000 earmarked for it of our own fundraised money, and we’re looking to generate another $100,000. So we’re hoping to give them $200,000 toward the project.”
Brooks advised, “I thought we’d done a fairly good job indicating that we were going to be contributing money to this project. So I don’t want public opinion to put a negative spin on this.
“We were at the council meeting on Monday, and our interpretation is that it sounds like they’re in favour of some form of preserving the existing structure, which is ultimately what we want as a group, and just how they get there and what solution they pick, you know, is good for us.
“Certainly, we’re encouraged to hear the majority of the council members were on board with keeping it. So that’s a little bit encouraging that they’ll be able to find that extra bit of money somewhere in the budget to make it happen.“We’ve got $100,000 earmarked for it of our own fundraised money, and we’re looking to generate another $100,000. So we’re hoping to give them $200,000 toward the project.”
Brooks agreed that with a refurbished grandstand, Emslie Field could be used for many other events, including outdoor concerts.
However, as Heather Jackson stressed in the item above, budget deliberations this time around could prove stressful. Don’t forget there is already a significant funding request from the Elgin County Railway Museum.
ELECTION DAY BY THE NUMBERS
It’s hard to fathom that voter turnout in this municipal election could be more dismal than it was four years ago.
But such was the case with 11,433 (29.9 per cent) of 38,228 eligible electors voting in this election, compared to 30.6 per cent in the 2022 municipal election.
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) estimates that, provincewide, the average voter turnout was approximately 36 per cent, that’s up from about 33 per cent in 2022.
Of the eligible St. Thomas electors who voted, 87 (.76 per cent) declined their ballot, 553 (4.9 per cent) abstained from the mayoral race, 267 (2.4 per cent) abstained from the councillor race, and 246 (18.9 per cent) abstained from the London District Catholic School Board race.What is to be read into the five per cent of voters abstaining from the mayoral race? Not an insignificant number.
According to the report to council members from Thomas Thayer, Director of Legislative Services/City Clerk for Monday’s (Nov. 9) meeting, “Approximately 70.5 per cent of electors voted prior to Voting Day, which is down slightly from 2022 and demonstrates that an increased number of electors chose to wait until October 26 to cast their ballot despite a 14-day voting period.”
“This demonstrates that, despite improvements in 2026, more needs to be done to engage younger voters.”
This demonstrates that, despite improvements in 2026, more needs to be done to engage younger voters.”
Just shy of 95 per cent of votes were cast via the internet or kiosk; 5.1 per cent via telephone. Telephone use was down from 2022, when 7 per cent of votes were cast through this medium.
For those who cast a ballot, 40.75 per cent were over the age of 65. Just 4.34 per cent were under the age of 25.
The oldest individual to cast a ballot was 101 years of age and voted online.
Thayer concludes, “The Percent-of-Votes-Cast shows that, relative to 2022, the share of votes cast by those under 45 increased – Under 25 increased from 3 to 4.3 per cent, and 25-44 increased from 16 to 22.1 per cent. This could be due to the prevalence of more younger candidates seeking office.
“The overall voter turnout in these younger age cohorts remains low, ranging between 16 and 23 per cent, compared to up to 43-44 per cent for those age 65 to 84. This demonstrates that, despite improvements in 2026, more needs to be done to engage younger voters.”
Would that entail a slate of younger candidates with more diverse backgrounds? Perhaps the issue is not the method of voting, but instead the composition of recent councils that do not represent the shifting demographics in St. Thomas.
CLIMATE WORKSHOP
To help prepare the community for future climate and weather-related challenges, the City of St. Thomas is developing a climate adaptation analysis and plan.
Community input will be critical to the plan’s development. A workshop will be held Nov. 10, where residents, local businesses, First Nations communities and other stakeholders are encouraged to share their experiences, concerns and priorities.
Taylor Mooney, the city’s Strategic Initiatives Manager, details the workshop’s focus.“This will give us a better framework and idea of where we are vulnerable to climate impacts. We are looking at a proactive approach. We know these things are happening and that they have a direct impact on municipal infrastructure and assets, and on how we respond to emergencies and plan for emergencies.”
The undertaking will help the city assess how current and future climate conditions could impact the municipality and identify practical actions to be taken to reduce risks, protect infrastructure and services, and strengthen community resilience.
Mooney explains who will be available at the workshop.
“Myself and staff from our planning and building department, our facilities team, and staff from our environmental services department. We’re also working through this project with a consultant who will be leading the workshop.”
Participants will have the opportunity to discuss their awareness of climate-related risks, share experiences with extreme weather, identify community priorities and offer perspectives on turning adaptation planning into practical action.
To register or for those unable to attend the workshop, you can visit the project page at http://speakupstthomas.ca/caap to learn more about the plan and explore engagement opportunities.
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A few comments as a result of reading Heather’s Jacksons’ comments on these issues.
From my experience watching Council meetings, it appears that the real debate occurs in private meetings beforehand and the few comments made during the public meeting are to satisfy the public. Hence the unanimous YES votes. We need to make more information public. e.g. the recent report that the $1 billion Yarmouth industrial park was “on time and on budget”. But who really knows, since the budget and schedule was never made public, even by request!
Hopefully the 2027 budget will provide greater detail, especially on debt financing. The City Treasurer recently reported, when reviewing the need for $400 million for the new waste treatment plant, that the debt financing limit did not leave much room for further debt financing. And that does not include the back of the envelope City’s share of the estimated $400 million twinning of a new water pipe from Lake Erie! I don’t know how the City can even consider replacing the baseball stands and even be considering a dream project like a new indoor recreation/community centre. We NEED water before we WANT new recreation facilities.
Well said Councillor Elect Heather Jackson!