I have lived in this Municipality for 24 years. My wife Sonja and I raised our 5 children here. I would not want to live anywhere else in the world - this is home.

I was trained as a Canadian Chartered Accountant and worked in public accounting and auditing for close to 10 years. After that I worked in various fields such as the computer industry, construction, health care and business consulting. Most of this experience was as the business owner.

From 1991 to 1997 I served as Trustee for the Grey County Board of Education representing the residents of the former Meaford, St. Vincent and Euphrasia; for 3 of those years I was Chair of the Board with responsibility for a budget of about $100 million.

I was elected Mayor of the Municipality of Meaford in November 2003 and have served in that capacity since. During this time I tried to deliver on my campaign promises: fiscal efficiency; accountability; openness and transparency.

As an incumbent I am in the enviable position of having a documented track record. I do not make promises lightly and I do my best to deliver on them. I accept the trust of the voter with humility. I find it is easier to spend my own money than to spend the money that has been entrusted to me by the taxpayer.

The tremendous potential of the Municipality of Meaford has been held back by an unwillingness to strive towards excellence. Political interference has slowed down and delayed needed change and has created unnecessary conflict. Change is difficult but clinging to the status quo has made things worse. We have to continue to remove the barriers and allow our community to prosper.

Although progress has been made over the last term of Council, much still needs to be done. Key issues facing us are:

1. Economic development - we need to encourage and solicit the right kind of growth to increase the assessment base and spread the tax load

2. Human Resources - staff is our greatest resource and largest cost; we must implement a policy of performance based compensation rather than one of entitlement

3. Taxes - decreasing government funding, inflation, additional expenses (Meaford Hall; deteriorating infrastructure) are putting tremendous pressure on already high tax rates

I want the Municipality of Meaford to be a place with an efficient, responsive local government with the attitude that it is there to serve its citizens. I want to live in a community that is healthy financially, environmentally and socially - a community we are proud to call our home.

Wally Reif
RR #2, Meaford, ON N4L 1W6
519-538-4972
wally_for_mayor@hotmail.com