The Town of Minto will see the end of an era this fall as mayor George Bridge announced he is retiring.
At the Tuesday virtual council meeting, Bridge announced that after 12 years in office, he will not be seeking re-election in the upcoming October municipal election.
“This is my third term of a 12-year career in office and I just want to relax and do a few things with my family. I have twin grandchildren in California and I haven’t seen them since COVID-19 hit, so that’s one of the first things I’ll be doing once I retire,” said Bridge in a phone interview.
“May is when we announce who will be running and I thought now is the best time to announce my retirement to give people and councillors time to get ready and figure out if they want to run for office or not.”
Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather who were both in politics, Bridge first ran for office in 2010 and has served three terms as Minto’s mayor since. He is the first to hold the position for that long.
Throughout his tenure with the town, Bridge has also served as warden for the County of Wellington; was elected to the board of directors for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities; and served as chair of the Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus economic development committee.
In a press release from the town, staff praised Bridge’s work and support of town staff projects, noting that “in the past 12 years, Bridge has been a tremendous support to Town staff, often praising them for the work they do and supporting the projects they believe in.
He was always quick to lend a helping hand, and believed wholeheartedly in community betterment.”
During a phone interview, Bridge noted that addressing issues in a small town sometimes create fiction as people often take sides on the matter.
“I’m a politician and I know how to handle the criticism and the hardships that come with the job especially when there’s an issue that we need to address. However, my family takes these criticisms to heart,” said Bridge.
“When I announced my retirement to my family, they were happy and it’ll be nice to know that my children and grandchildren won’t have to worry about dad or grandpa and having to defend him when receiving criticism from the people.”
Bridge noted that he was proud of the work the council has done even when they didn’t agree on everything all the time but they have done a tremendous job when it comes to the big picture stuff.
He also stated that when it comes to the committees he’s a part of, he’s yet to decide whether to continue being a board member or not.
“I still have a lot of things to do before my retirement and even though I’ve announced that, it won’t mean I’ll be slacking off. There’s still lots of hard work to do,” he said.
