Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa's hopes for 2023

Hello, Niagara-on-the-Lake Local readers!

As the year ends, I want to reflect on my short time as lord mayor of this great town.

I was honoured to be elected as lord mayor during the October 2022 municipal and school board election. I have had many years of political and public service-type experience and thoroughly enjoy serving constituents and fellow community members. As such, running for the lord mayor of a town I am proud to call home was an easy decision for me, one that was well supported by my family and friends.

Becoming the lord mayor of NOTL has filled me with great pride and further ignited my passion for this town and those who live here, work here and visit here.

NOTL has many unique aspects that make it one of the most special places in North America, even the world. These aspects include its rich heritage and architectural landscapes, its world-

renowned tourism industry and its tight-knit community, to name a few. I look forward to working hard with my fellow council members, town staff and community partners to uphold and preserve everything that makes NOTL so special, while continuing to move forward with enhancements and various modernization efforts.

I want to share a bit about my experience thus far as your lord mayor. Since being elected, council members and I have completed a vigorous training and orientation schedule organized by staff. These training sessions were designed to help ensure that all council members are prepared and have the resources required to embark on a successful 2022-2026 term of Council.

The training helped set council up for success, as our recently completed committee of the whole and council meetings were executed well, with many business items accomplished. I look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with my colleagues on council to advance business and work in the best interest of our community members.

This past month I have also had the opportunity to meet with each elected town councillor and Regional Coun. Andrea Kaiser, to discuss how my office and I can support them in their role. It is my goal to be collaborative and supportive and to lead our town by example, setting a tone of mutual respect, understanding and a willingness to listen to the thoughts and opinions of others. I also wanted to hear from my colleagues about what is important to them, what concerns they have for the community, what they value about strategic planning and what they would like to see involved in developing a strategic plan. Their feedback was incredibly important to me, and from those conversations, I was able to relay council’s ideas to staff.

I am looking forward to the strategic planning process, which will begin soon. Throughout this process, council will be tasked with reviewing the community’s vision, focusing on core strategic items, and delivering a value-driven action plan for Staff to implement throughout this term of council, frequently reporting on their progress.

The strategic plan will help inform the organization and establishment of committees of council. The first step in our process will commence in the coming weeks and involve a call for volunteers for our statutory committees, including a skills-based qualification selection process with council deciding on committee composition and membership.

Another activity I am excited to introduce in the upcoming years is the creation of village open forum sessions. These sessions will be conducted regularly in each of our villages (Glendale, Old Town, Queenston, St. Davids, Virgil) and focus on improving communication and transparency throughout the municipality. I envision an open forum-style meeting with two-way communication: more listening and less speaking.

Four years from now, I want council members to say they have enjoyed the experience of serving the community, that their opinions mattered, and that they accomplished what they set out to do. Most importantly, I hope they say that given a choice, they would do it all again.

I am proud to be the lord mayor of this town and will remain committed to strengthening and growing relationships, building trust and providing fair and effective leadership to council.

With a new year comes a new beginning, and I am excited to work hard to accomplish all the goals set before us.

I appreciate your support, Niagara-on-the-Lake. It is an honour to serve you.

Happy New Year.