| Foley ponders political future |
| Absent councillor to announce Tuesday if
he intends to quit municipal politics |
| By Morgan Ian Adams |
| Enterprise-Bulletin (Fri, January 19, 2000) |
| COLLINGWOOD - With only a month into the term, one of the
nine people around the town's council is pondering walking away from the
table. |
| Councillor Sonny Foley, who placed sixth in the November
election with 3,385 votes, walked out of council chambers after an in
camera meeting and before the first session in front of the cameras, and
hasn't returned. |
| "Certain issues have come up that have disturbed me,
and have made me question.. staying on as a member," Foley told the
Enterprise-Bulletin this week. |
| Foley told the paper it was at the "request of
friends" that he hold off on making a final decision until this
coming Tuesday, "so I could not give a response in haste. |
| "It's a tough decision in one regard - I think I do
speak for a lot of people in the community who feel as passionate about
Collingwood as I do," he said. "And how easy it is to make
a decision which would screw the place up or make one where we can have a
great community." |
| Foley noted he finds it "frustrating" at times at
the council table on Monday nights, while he enjoys working at the
committee level. |
| However, this isn't the first time Foley has threatened to
quit council. |
| In 1998, after being censured by the mayor for an outburst
at the table, he threatened to resign over the issue of not allowing
councillors to chair the municipal committees of which they may be a
member. |
| Over the last six years on council, Foley has work on
committees dealing with issues such as trails, green space an parks, the
future of Admiral Collingwood, the Harbourlands, and Vision 20/20. |
| And its the people on those committees who have come to him
in the last two weeks, and/or expressed their concern that he will walk
away from the table. |
| "Sonny is one of those strong community members
because he just has a wealth of knowledge," said Marg Scheben-Edey,
who, as chair of Vision 20/20, has worked closely with Foley for the past
couple of years. "His personal level of commitment to the
community is unprecedented." |
| Mayor Terry Geddes said he hasn't spoken to Foley since
that Monday, and expressed concern about his future around the table. |
| "He has proven himself to be extremely
dedicated," Geddes said. "He is an informed councillor
who, when he makes a decision, it's based upon the research necessary to
make that decision. |
| "I believe Councillor Foley to be valuable to the
community - he has stood for the betterment of the community." |
| The mayor said should Foley not return, council has two
options to fill the seat - by-election or appointment. |
| Geddes personal feeling is there should be an election if
Foley vacates his seat. |
| "For eight people to appoint someone is a little
unfair," Geddes said. "Because there is still three years
in the term, there should be an election." |
| Foley wouldn't get into specifics of why he hasn't sat at
the table the last two weeks, and what is driving his decision-making,
other than that "I've been hurt at some of the decisions which have
been made. |
| "I'm not doing this to push anyone into a
corner," he said. "There are issues that affect me, my
pride, my psyche and my integrity. |
