I was born in St. Vincent Township and farmed for 46 years after my parents moved into town.

I am married to Shirley and we have four daughters. My parents, school teachers and Sunday school teachers always encouraged me to be responsible for myself and to care for others. It is because I care about our Municipality of Meaford that I am offering to serve as Councillor.

My municipal experience is as follows: ~

I served 5 terms as Councillor in St. Vincent Township. I served 6 terms as Reeve of St. Vincent Township. During my time on St. Vincent Council, I served as Warden of Grey County in 1990. I served on Zone 2 of the Rural Ontario Municipal Association for seven years and was Chairman of that Association in 1995. There are nine Zones in Ontario.

I served as Chairman of the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority in 2000.

After amalgamation, I was the first Mayor of the Municipality of Meaford and in those three years, we had significant surpluses of Municipal taxes because of very careful spending practices. The last three years when I was not in office, tax dollar requirements have gone up from $5,313,105.00 to $5,450,000, and a very small surplus in the year 2005.

I believe in full Council participation in all issues that come before it, and not left to administration staff only.

I would sincerely ask for your support for the position of Councillor for the Municipality of Meaford.

Gerald Shortt
51 Fairway Avenue Meaford, Ontario N4L 1X8
Telephone: 519-538-2648
Email: geraldshortt@hotmail.com