Wednesday, February 12th, 2025

Four years after competing against Ken Ferguson for the position of Clearview’s Mayor, Christopher VanderKruys is back for a second kick at the can.

In the 2010 municipal election, VanderKruys won 36% of the vote against Ferguson.

This time around, VanderKruys’ platform remains the same. He still believes that Council needs to communicate better with residents and that Clearview needs to be more fiscally responsible.

“Council makes decisions that the people don’t want,” said VanderKruys. “But if people realized the costs behind [the decisions] and they still don’t want the change, then Council should listen.”

If elected Mayor, VanderKruys said he would ensure every Councillor conducted Town Hall meetings at least twice a year so people could voice their concerns.

“The Councillors still don’t do that within our area,” he said. “So how do you really know what’s going on?”

As Mayor, VanderKruys said he would recommend a review of the Township’s operations from the inside.

“I would look at the salaries within the organization,” he explained. “Do we need a large Planning Department if we aren’t building?”

He also said he would push for ways to grow the area’s industry and businesses.

VanderKruys has been the Director of Business and Development at the Barrie Public Library for the last seven years.

He has been a member of the Brentwood Hall Board, which he chairs, for more than 25 years.

“We need to have the tax base to offset the growth that needs to happen,” he emphasized.

VanderKruys feels his family’s connection to Clearview gives him a solid base from which to lead.

Born and raised in Brentwood, VanderKruys still calls the area home. The land he lives on with his wife Carol and daughter Kristin is the same property his great-grandfather inhabited in the late 1800s.

That man, J. J. Dumond, is well-known in these parts for building the Collingwood Street bridge.

At press time, Ferguson said he had not yet decided whether he would seek a third term as Mayor of Clearview Township.

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