Questions & Answers | Richard Schooley

Q1. Why are you seeking this position, and what experience or perspective would you bring to the council table?

I am concerned about the medium- and long-term viability and sustainability of not just the Town of Perth, but the entirety of the Perth Community, 75% of whom do not live inside the Perth town boundary. As Deputy Mayor I will have a seat at County Council where I will champion a united Perth Community recognition of issues governed at the County table. Do I want us to change, yes, but via informed evolution. I’d like to be part of a team that takes us there.

Q2. What do you believe is the most important issue facing Perth, and what would you do about it?

The most important issue the Perth Community faces is a lack of understanding of us/ourselves. The Perth Community is not the 6400 people on the highway sign, it is 26,000 totally inter-dependent people, who when more than 50km of homes say they are from Perth, yet administer themselves with four municipal governments. Duplication and parochialism diminish our ability to remain viable and sustainable and be the us we are capable and deserving of.

Q3. What could Perth be doing better, and what specific change would you propose?

Again, it is not what the Town should be doing better, it is what the people of the Perth Community should be doing better to realize and utilize the wealth and depth of knowledge and experience present and readily willing to contribute their skills but whom we disenfranchise because they live the wrong side of the Town line. That list far exceeds the space allowed here.

Q4. How would you seek and consider input from residents who disagree with you when making a difficult decision?

We need to start by Better Understanding Us, the collective us. We have collective values and needs that as a community we frustrate responding to all too frequently. With collective understanding, sharing, reconciling, we would have far less disagreement and meaningful input would be enabled and considered.

Q5. How should council balance property-tax affordability with the cost of maintaining roads, infrastructure and municipal services across the town?

Property Taxes in the Town of Perth are not yet to the level of Smiths Falls, but we are heading there. We need to look no further afield that our own county, to the very successful Mississippi Mills to see what a community based property tax system could produce. Every property tax payor in Lanark County pays an identical tax rate for County services and our School Boards. For our municipal services and infrastructure, like Mississippi Mills we should embrace a community-based tax rate system.

Q6. How would you contribute to an effective and professional working relationship among the mayor, councillors, municipal staff and residents?

I am a collaborator, and innovator who looks for long term solutions, influenced by a solid understanding of issues and values intrinsic to the system, be they an operational challenge or long-term investments in infrastructure or human resources.