Dave Sheen running for Ward 2 councillor

Sheen says his career in public service has made him a “consensus builder”

By Zachary Roman

Dave Sheen has worked for the Ontario government for the past 34 years, and retired on August 31.

He went to college at Fleming and got his correctional services worker diploma before getting a bachelor's degree in psychology from Trent University.

Sheen spent his career in the youth justice sector, at first on the front lines and then since 1999, in managerial roles. Sheen said it's always been in his nature to want to step into the lead role in whatever he does, which is one of the reasons he's decided to run for Ward 2 Councillor in Caledon.

“All through my 34 years in public service, I've always been the guy challenging the status quo,” said Sheen, “I've always been asking, ‘Why do we do it that way? There must be a better way to do that.'”

He said his experience with the way bureaucracy works will benefit him if elected as councillor, and that he's not afraid to dive deep into wordy policy documents and do his homework on any given issue. Additionally, Sheen said his work in public service has made him an expert when it comes to working with people.

“You can't get a lot done fighting with people all the time, so I've learned how to focus on people's strengths and be a consensus builder,” said Sheen. “I've also worked in some tough, unionized environments — and that can be very challenging, but I think I've been pretty successful.”

Sheen said in his career, he's always been known as a “policy guy” who focuses on following the proper rules and procedures, and that if the policy isn't right, he works to fix it. Sheen said he believes being a councillor is all about policy: making good policy that's strategic and thoughtful.

“If you look at an agenda for a council meeting, there's a lot of reading in there, there's a lot of dense material to go through,” said Sheen, adding if one wants to be effective at speaking for or against something, they have to have done the reading first.

Sheen said his natural inclination to lead has led him to try and be a leader in the community.

He's lived in the Anthem subdivision near Southfields Village since it was first ready to be lived in, in 2012. Since that time, Sheen has been an administrator on the community's Facebook page, as well as on a local neighbourhood watch page.

He said people rely on him to be the voice of reason on those pages, and he often deletes nasty or inappropriate comments.

Sheen said he was on the Southfields Village Public School parent council for eight years, and served as chair and vice-chair during that time.

He said he enjoyed the role and that he and other council members raised a lot of money for the school. Sheen has also been a volunteer soccer coach in Valleywood, and is now a volunteer baseball coach in Bolton where his son plays ball.

“I can't just sit back and watch things unfold,” said Sheen. “I need to get involved.”

Sheen said while good communication is important as a councillor, one has to take it a step further and actively try to inspire people to engage with and care about municipal issues such as land planning. 

A big issue in Ward 2 is traffic safety, said Sheen, something he acknowledges all the candidates in the Ward are making a priority.

He said while he commends the Town for the efforts it has made to mitigate traffic safety issues so far, more needs to be done.

“We all want a comfortable place to live,” said Sheen. “We want our street sweeping to happen in the spring like they say it's going to, we want our street lights changed when they burn out, and we want our snow plowed within whatever the service level agreement says.”

Sheen said his vision is for the Town of Caledon to provide the services people need and expect from a modern community, and do them well.

“I'm a dad, a husband. Family is number one. And when I think of advocating for my neighbours, I'm advocating for my neighbours and their kids… they, like me, want a nice community and they don't have the time to lead… or the willingness to put themselves out there, because politics can be a nasty sport,” said Sheen. “I'm willing to do it on their behalf. And I'm not an expert on any one thing, but I know how to look for advice from professionals who are experts to make (Caledon) a better place… I hope people perceive me as genuinely interested in making things better for my neighbours, not my constituents — I want to refer to them as my neighbours, because that's more personal.”