Central Huron Mayor Jim Ginn bids farewell after over 20 years on council

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

On Monday, Nov. 2, in Clinton at Central Huron Council Chambers, a 23-year career in municipal politics came to an end with Mayor Jim Ginn’s final meeting.

 

Earlier this year, Ginn announced that he would not be seeking re-election in order to focus on things at home, not the least of which was his family’s new winery, and to step away from the world of municipal politics, one in which his father, too, had excelled.
He called his 23 years on council, first as a councillor and then later as the mayor, a “most enjoyable experience”, adding that he was always impressed with how well his councils had gotten along and how they were able to come together for the good of the community.

 

“I feel very fortunate to be a mayor of a council that always gets along and operates with dignity,” he said.

 

Ginn thanked all of council and staff for their hard work and dedication during his time as an elected representative, but singled out Councillor Alison Lobb and Deputy-Mayor Marg Anderson, who will succeed him as mayor, for being colleagues for the entirety of his 23-year career in municipal politics.

 

Chief Administrative Officer Steve Doherty then spoke, thanking both Ginn and Councillor Dan Colquhoun for their time on council. (Colquhoun had been a councillor for, on and off, 28 years, but was under the weather and unable to attend the Nov. 2 meeting.)

 

Doherty said that Ginn is the only mayor he’s ever worked for and that the passage of time really hit home when he thought of his children as being in Kindergarten when he began working for the municipality and that they are now nearing the end of their post-secondary education.

 

He praised Ginn’s guidance, patience and integrity and, in many cases, decisiveness and wished him well in the next chapter of his life.