Shaughnessy promises fresh approach as she runs for council

July 17, 2014 · 0 Comments

Life-long Ward 1 resident Barb Shaughnessy wants to bring her passion to maintaining the vision for her area, and she’s taking that to the political level.
Shaughnessy has registered to seek the Ward 1 Regional seat on Caledon council in this fall’s municipal election.
“I’m a pretty passionate person,” she said. “I have a passion for the vision.”
She also believes the area needs renewed energy and a fresh approach to the decision-making process.
Shaughnessy has been active in the local political process for several years, frequently attending council sessions, as well as other public meetings.
“The only way to make a difference and maintain our way of country life is from the inside,” she said
An architectural designer, Shaughnessy has worked on more than 100 homes throughout the region and dealt with the Town, NEC and CVC on many of these projects. She said she’s willing to set that work aside. Her husband Tim Forster ran for the seat in 2010. She said she didn’t run then because her children were still at home.
“This is a full-time job,” she said.
Shaughnessy also wants to stand up for the residents, pointing out a number of groups have been formed over the last couple of years to challenge decisions of the Town at the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). She said it used to be developers taking the Town to OMB, so she concluded developers must be happy with what council is doing.
She added that people are thinking their concerns are not being appreciated.
“They want their voices heard,” she said. “They don’t want to be ignored.”
“I’m going to jump in and support the people,” she added,
Shaughnessy has been active in the community through the Caledon Agricultural Society. She co-developed SnowFest, which was recognized by Ontario Tourism as the Festival of the Year 2013 for Hills of Headwaters and recently received a Volunteer Achievement Award from the Town of Caledon for her efforts.
She was a Charter Member of Caledon West Rotary, a Heart and Stroke Society spokesperson, as well as a Bethell House Building Committee member, where she contributed by designing Bethell House’s building layout concept.