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Brand is back

Over a decade since his previous service, ex-councillor says Town is in trouble, files for Ward 3 seat BY SAMUEL PICCOLO Special to the VOICE Twelve years after last serving on council, Fonthill resident and Brock University professor Uwe Brand submi
Uwe Brand_EDIT
Uwe Brand at home last week in Fonthill. DAVE BURKET PHOTO

Over a decade since his previous service, ex-councillor says Town is in trouble, files for Ward 3 seat

BY SAMUEL PICCOLO Special to the VOICE

Twelve years after last serving on council, Fonthill resident and Brock University professor Uwe Brand submitted his name to run in Ward 3 last week, joining four other candidates in the race for the ward’s two seats.

Brand, whose first name is pronounced “Ooo-va,” served three terms from 1997 until 2006, when he ran for mayor against the incumbent Ron Leavens and political newcomer Dave Augustyn, who won. When Brand lost this contest, he retreated from Pelham politics and focussed on his work at Brock. Now, though, he’s back.

“For the first eight years nothing really seemed to happen, and I didn’t pay too much attention,” said Brand last week.

“But these last few years I’ve been following things. The reality is setting in that the centre was built, and now the question is, ‘How can we pay this off?’ Some people have suggested selling it off, but I think that a private owner would have fees so expensive that no groups would be able to afford them.”

During his time on council, Brand had a reputation for being a fiscal hawk, questioning every penny spent.

“That's how I was brought up, and it’s a philosophy that has worked well for me personally too,” said Brand, who is 70 and emigrated from Germany to Canada in the 1960s.

“We were on our own when we came over. You make it or you go back.” Brand is a geologist at Brock, and did his undergraduate work at the University of Waterloo, before studying briefly in the United States and finishing a PhD at the University of Ottawa. He began at Brock in 1980, moving to Pelham with his wife, Joan, and their three sons in 1995.

Brand said that the new council will need a comprehensive look at the Town’s true financial situation.

"We don’t need KPMG or a national firm. We just need someone local who has open terms of reference to look at everything. I know from when I was on council that every contract came with terms of reference that would say, ‘Only look at A, B, and C, not D and E.’ We need to look at all aspects, and the result would be made public,” said Brand.

Brand described the opacity of Pelham’s finances a symptom of a broader illness plaguing Town Hall.

“The Town exists because of the people that live here, but there’s always the attitude that [the Town] thinks it knows better than the people what they want,” he said, pointing to the Haist Street chicane as an example. “In just a few weeks of talking to people and collecting signatures, it’s amazing how many issues people had in a Town of this size.”

Brand said he favoured removing the chicane. He’s said that Summerfest, which some Pelham Street businesses have called needlessly disruptive, should be relocated, possibly to the new Meridian Community Centre.

Brand specifically mentioned the conduct of CAO Darren Ottaway.

“It’s bad enough that someone on Poth Street has the inconvenience of having the road closed, but then having those comments from the CAO. [Residents] should be given some respect,” said Brand.

Poth Street has been closed since the spring of 2017. In a private meeting with some residents, Ottaway called a house in the area “a bad investment” and said, “that’s your problem,” referring to Poth residents. One resident asserted that Ottaway told him he could sell his house and move if he was upset about the road closure.

“Staff aren’t there to serve council. They’re there to serve the people,” said Brand. “The Mayor and council aren’t the boss. The residents are.”

He says he favours comprehensive review of Town departments.

“We need to have look at the number of senior administrators, their compensation packages, and what needs to be done for the best interest of the Town and residents.”

Brand said that his time on council made him appreciate the recent efforts at transparency undertaken by some residents.

“There was a time that I had to file a Freedom of Information request when I was a councillor,” said Brand. “I paid my fee, and I’m still waiting for a response. That was over twelve years ago.”

Brand said he was disturbed when the Town cut off communication with the Voice late last winter.

“It is very important that we have an open, free and respectful communication between the Town and the residents of Pelham—including the media.

Aside from watching the finances, Brand said that he was proud of several things that occurred during his earlier stint on council, including the bolstering of the Pelham Fire Department.