Norm Raynor has officially announced his candidacy to become the next mayor of Bracebridge.
He said he moved to Bracebridge in 1975 to work as an apprentice forester with Hydro One, a career that eventually led him to become a forestry manager before starting his own business in Muskoka.
Since then, he said he has remained actively involved in the community.
“Last year, I was awarded the Volunteer of the Year Award at South Muskoka Community Living for the work I do there,” he said, adding that he was also inducted into the Baseball Wall of Fame a few years ago.
Raynor said his main motivation for running for mayor is health care, adding that the community currently cannot even deliver babies at the local hospital.
“I think our mayor and council did not fight hard enough and haven’t fought hard enough to save the hospital that we have,” he said.
According to Raynor, another key motivation for running for mayor is the amount of taxes residents currently have to pay.
“We get taxed enough. We get taxed by the town, the district, the province, the federal government,” he said, adding that if elected, he would look at reducing some budgets to help prevent tax increases for residents.
He said other priorities he would like to address include strengthening economic development, expanding housing opportunities and creating more local jobs.
“If I get elected as mayor, I’ll be directing the economic development department,” he said. “I’ll be directing them to go out and find some light industry that would come to Bracebridge to create jobs.”
Currently, Raynor and incumbent Rick Maloney are the only two mayoral candidates in Bracebridge.
Candidates have until Aug. 21 to file their nominations.
The municipal election is Oct. 26.
