It appears the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference at the beginning of this week in Ottawa proved productive for many communities in attendance.
In the case of the St. Thomas delegation, the gathering had Mayor Joe Preston smiling on more than one occasion.
At the beginning of June, we outlined some of the key meetings Preston and company had lined up with provincial ministers and the link to that item is below.
We caught up with Preston yesterday (Friday) to get an executive summary of what transpired, from a St. Thomas perspective.
“I took a very powerful delegation with me,” praised Preston.
Along with Preston were city manager Michael Bradley and councillors Lori Baldwin-Sands and Steve Peters.
Tag Archives: Josh Morgan
‘I will say that it was my intention to continue to be in St. Thomas but sometimes opportunities come up.’ – City manager Sandra Datars Bere to depart for top job in London
We got wind of this just over a week ago and the move was confirmed on Tuesday of this week. City Manager Sandra Datars Bere will assume the same post up the road in London, effective at the beginning of May.
Her last day at city hall will be at the end of April.
She returned to St. Thomas as city manager on Jan. 10, 2022. So, for the second time in about 15 months, the hunt begins for a new city boss.
Datars Bere stepped in following the retirement of Wendell Graves at the end of February 2022.
She served as the city’s director of social services from 2006 through 2010, before moving on to continue her municipal career in London and Bruce County.
Mayor Joe Preston admits the city has big shoes to fill.
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‘If you can get people talking about you because of what you’ve done, then more people are listening.’ – St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston
There is no denying St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston is an upbeat kinda person, no matter the situation confronting him.
It would be a safe bet to say he could be branded Jovial Joe without a whole lot of pushback from the mayor’s corner.
For example, Preston and a city delegation, including councillors Tara McCaulley and Steve Wookey along with city manager Sandra Datars Bere attended this year’s Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference earlier this week in London and we caught up with him at the culmination of the gathering and his exuberance was palpable.
According to a release prior to the conference, the city advocacy work was to “focus around resources to create new and augment existing community mental health supports, support for capital investments in affordable housing, increased support for inter-community transportation connections and initiatives, capital funding for new childcare spaces, investments in social assistance programs and administration, and support for legislative changes and funding to alleviate pressures faced by St. Thomas Police.”
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Welcome to The Station in St. Thomas where there’s hope for what the future may hold ‘when there’s the assurance of somewhere to sleep and a place to call home’
I had the pleasure Thursday of joining members of city council over the lunch hour for a tour of The Station, Indwell’s 45-unit supportive housing project on Queen Street that is in the process of welcoming tenants from the city’s by-name homeless list.
We had the opportunity to tour a couple of the apartments, one a studio-style unit and the second barrier-free.
More on the accommodation later, but first my conversation with Natasha Thuemler, Indwell’s regional manager in London.
We first met almost two years ago when touring Railway City Lofts, Indwell’s first project in St. Thomas consisting of 15 micro-apartments above the transit building on Talbot Street.
Owned by the city and operated by Indwell, the units are an example of welcoming supportive housing for individuals transitioning from homelessness and mental health challenges.
