With just a few more months left of work, veteran politician Bonnie Ainsworth will call it a career before the Oct. 22 municipal election in Barrie.
The Ward 1 representative has served her constituents loyally for, most recently, two straight terms and says she is proud of her work at Barrie City Hall.
Knowing that her time was winding down, Ainsworth admits it wasn’t just her age that helped her decision to step down after her term was up.
“I was born three days after Christmas on Dec. 28, 1942, making me a very young 75-year-old,” Ainsworth told BarrieToday. “Everything changes and the biggest change for me, and probably the main reason I started wondering about running again, besides my age, was a new operations protocol at city hall.
"Talking to and assisting constituents was actually the part of the job I enjoyed the most," she added. "I was very disturbed and disappointed when council voted to turn this responsibility over to a newly formed city department named Service Barrie.
"I was asked to tell my constituents who contacted me for help to call Service Barrie. This did not sit well with me at all and, for the most part, I have refused.”
She also ran for the Reform Party in the federal election in 1997, in a riding then known as Barrie-Simcoe-Bradford, finishing in second place behind Liberal Aileen Carroll.
Ainsworth was first elected to Barrie city council in 1997, with a hiatus from 2003 to 2010 to enjoy retirement with her husband of now 54 years.
The council itch became too much to bear and, in 2010, Ainsworth put her name back in the ring for election in Ward 1. She won and did so again in 2014.
Ainsworth says she has enjoyed not only her time representing the city she has called home for some three decades, but also working with Mayor Jeff Lehman, who sits immediately to her right at the council table.
“I had the privilege to serve as the Ward 1 council representative for two three-year terms, from 1997 to 2003, under the mayoralty of Janice Laking and Jim Perri, respectively,” Ainsworth said. “After that, I took a sabbatical and joined my husband, Jim, in his retirement and I did not put my name forward for the (Rob) Hamilton or (Dave) Aspden councils.
"The past eight years, since 2010, have at times been challenging, but also very rewarding. With help from Mayor Lehman, who I greatly respect and adore, and often the assistance of council and staff, I feel good about Ward 1 betterments and city-wide accomplishments I played an instrumental part in.”
Ainsworth has been a part of many decisions that have turned out to be beneficial to the city, and has had the joy of overseeing many events that have brought joy to her constituents.
As she leaves her post, Ainsworth says her hopes for Ward 1 is that future councils will be proactive in the infrastructure needs of the community.
“In terms of my hopes for Ward 1, it is and will unfortunately be for many years the correction of infrastructure,” she said. “No fingers pointed, but even councils long past opted to do their best to keep taxes low and unfortunately chose to ignore investing in the maintenance and preservation of local roads.
"I had one constituent call me saying he had not seen a paver in his neighbourhood since the 1950s," Ainsworth added. "I am the creation collaborator of the Neighbourhood Renewal Program that saw our Northshore neighbourhood become totally revitalized as the first project. The program is still going strong, but has now moved to a 'worst road, worst neighbourhood first' prioritization schedule.
"Unfortunately for Ward 1, if you can believe it, old Allandale and downtown Barrie actually have older roads in worse shape. I hope future councils will continue to recognize that replacement of forgotten expired infrastructure is an unavoidable and an extremely necessary service for people who drive and live on these streets.
"In most cases, it is the same people who have paid taxes to the city for decades and they deserve better.”
Unsurprisingly to anyone who has watched her on council for years, Ainsworth’s favourite moment has nothing to do with her own accomplishments. Her loyalty to those around her had Ainsworth recall the progress of a fellow city hall compatriot as her happiest time in recent years.
"My favourite memory on council was the night Michael Prowse was announced the new chief administrative officer of the City of Barrie,” she said. “I was so happy. He, in my opinion, epitomizes a person of honour and integrity, is a natural leader, as smart as a whip and, as a former representative of the people, he gets it. I take great comfort in the knowledge Michael sits in that chair.”
The time on Monday nights will no longer be spent in her chair at city hall, but rather at home with family. Ainsworth admits she will miss the people she has become close with at city hall, but says she will follow advice she read when it comes to how to handle the next little while.
“I loved being a councillor and never did less than my best,” Ainsworth said. “There is no doubt I will miss a lot of people and being part of council; however, knowing my daughter (Shaughna) has been, for all intents and purposes, just waiting for me to step down somehow made announcing my retirement easier.
"I am not sure what the future has in store for me, but someone recently wrote somewhere, 'I am going to make the last years of my life the best years of my life', so I was thinking maybe I would just work on that thought for now.”
