Tim Lauer is back on the campaign trail looking to secure a seventh term on city council and a return to the table to represent Ward 4.
Lauer, a lifelong Orillian, has served on city council since first being elected in 1997, aside from a four-year gap after a second-place finish in the mayoral race of 2010.
The 72-year-old independent contractor and real estate agent said a love of working with people and finding solutions to the city’s challenges is what keeps him coming back every election cycle.
“Going forward, there’s a lot of issues that are going to be quite challenging, and I think I’ve got a lot of valuable experience to add to any discussion,” Lauer told OrilliaMatters. “I think every new council needs a good mix of fresh ideas and experience, and I think I can provide both.”
Key issues he hopes to address include housing, infrastructure improvements, managing city debt and services, and the city’s looming boundary expansion.
“I believe the city will be seeing significant financial pressures over the next four years. Inflation, climate change, known infrastructure deficits, essential initiatives such as the proposed new hospital will require a steady hand and a continual awareness of context,” he said.
“The idea of a 10-year plan has never been more critical and, more than ever, that plan will need to align with reality. All things will not be possible and I will be prepared and willing to make the hard choice," said Lauer.
However, there are two matters Lauer views as particularly important to address.
“There’s a couple of issues I think that we’d be smart to designate as urgent, and that would be the environment and some of our social issues regarding homelessness,” he said.
Regarding the environment, Lauer said the city has accomplished “the easy part” in putting its climate action plan together this past term, but implementing it broadly will require “significant buy-in from the public.”
He stressed the importance of coming up with “creative solutions” to address homelessness within Orillia.
“It’s a problem that’s everywhere, that’s all over southern Ontario, all across Canada. It’s a very challenging, complex issue, and we’re going to have to really work hard at coming up with some creative solutions,” he said. “We’re long past the talk stage, and we need some fairly urgent action on those issues.”
Lauer also hopes to see the city’s waterfront redevelopment plan come to fruition in the coming term, and he stressed the importance of stormwater management.
“Stormwater is of special interest to me and should be to all Orillians, as it is impacting our lakes, closing our beaches and threatening our drinking water,” he said. “I was pleased to have council ask staff prepare a report that will, when received by the new council at budget, outline possible strategies that will reduce the timelines in our stormwater master plan.”
Looking back, Lauer is proud to have been part of a number of the city’s accomplishments.
The creation of the 220-acre Scout Valley, bringing Lakehead University to the city, and taking steps forward on environmental protections — from the creation of the first environmental advisory committee in the late 1990s to creating the city’s stormwater management plan — are some of the projects Lauer is proud to have helped accomplish.
He is also proud to have been part of the Building Hope campaign that resulted in a new Lighthouse facility that features an emergency shelter for men, women and youth, as well as 20 supportive-housing units.
With six terms of experience on council, Lauer said the biggest lesson he has learned is to simply listen to the community members around him.
“Good ideas can come from anywhere, and the only way you benefit from that is by listening,” he said. “I’ve been continually surprised (by) how many great ideas come out of the community.
“If you actually look around the city, all the great things that go on in the city are usually community driven, so you’ve got to be listening.”
