Westport Mayor-Elect Joe Aragona’s Pre-Term Check-In

Joe Aragona has been acclaimed as Mayor of Westport. Photo Provided

Westport Mayor-Elect Joe Aragona is moving into the mayor’s chair after four years on council. Aragona, who moved to Westport in 2021, was acclaimed as mayor when no other candidate registered to contest the seat by the Aug. 21 nomination deadline.

He said he is honoured by the privilege of becoming mayor, still he acknowledges he’s a little blown away that he is about to don the mayoral chain of office.

He’s not campaigning for your vote, but he is doing what he calls a “Pre-Term Check-In.” He has started knocking on doors with a postcard that lists his five priorities for the next four years: sound financial management, a diversified housing strategy, strategic economic development, proactive environmental stewardship, and improved communications. He characterizes his approach as focused, responsible, and practical community development.

He will also speak at the Review-Mirror-sponsored Westport All-Candidates meeting Oct. 13, 6:30 p.m., at the Westport Legion.

As a councillor, he said he gained not only an in-depth appreciation of community issues but also an understanding of how local government works. A large part of the job, he believes, is finding the balance between the practical realities of managing and operating a municipality and what’s important to residents, what they want for their community. Listening, he said, is key.

Aragona describes himself as a collaborator. “I’m looking for the experts, and I’m looking for the answers and for different points of view, because I don't think one person's point of view can necessarily be informed unless they're listening to other people.” He said councillors play an important advisory role in bringing their research and residents’ concerns to the table before decisions are taken.

An insight he gained over the past four years is that people tend to think about issues in immediate terms. He thinks decisions have to find the balance between an urgent pressure and a longer-term perspective that takes account of downstream financial and operational impacts.

If there’s one difference residents will see in the next term, it is Aragona’s determination to “put meat on the bones.” Planning documents describe what the Village wants to do, but Aragona wants to focus on the how. “My ongoing question as we move forward is—what’s the plan?” He uses wastewater and the potential for combining town hall with a community centre at the arena as examples of where he wants “tactical strategies” that address, in detail, how things will get done.

If anything is keeping the mayor-elect up at night, it’s the money. “The province is not coming to our rescue,” he said, adding that municipalities across Ontario are facing similar pressures.

Of his five priorities, sound financial management is number one for a reason. The incoming council will bear the consequences of serious and costly issues that have arisen over the summer, on top of existing infrastructure pressures: the urgent need to replace failed wastewater pumps, immediate mitigation measures to ensure the integrity of the arena roof, workplace health and safety issues that have forced the relocation of some Village employees, and the loss of dividend income from Rideau St. Lawrence.

In the face of a cash crunch, he’s also asking questions about capital assets. “Does it make sense for us to divest? Does it make sense for us to invest? What is it that we need to do?” He also thinks shifting from an annual budget cycle to a two-year cycle would provide more structure and give staff more stability in managing operations.

As mayor, Aragona will chair council meetings and is the official spokesperson, representing Westport publicly and at meetings with other municipalities and upper-tier government. He represents the interests of the village as a member of Leeds-Grenville County Council. “I'm advocating for what Westport needs at those meetings and balancing that with what the eleven other municipalities represented at that level are trying to achieve.”

He said council only scratched the surface of the possible benefits of going to a tier-one governance model, instead of a lower-tier model. On the other hand, he is clear that he does not agree that amalgamation with Rideau Lakes is in Westport’s interests.

On communications, he would like council and municipal staff to communicate more proactively, letting residents know what issues will be discussed before meetings and providing clearer explanations afterward about decisions and the reasons behind them.

Election day is Oct. 26. The four-year term for the new mayor and council commences Nov. 14.