Kinkora councillor steps down

KINKORA - The town of Kinkora will hold a byelection in the next few months to replace a councillor who stepped down at the Jan. 27 meeting.

Damien McAvinn has served on the town council for several terms, but at 69, after a lot of thought, he has decided to step down and spend more time with his grandkids and family.

“I enjoyed working with the people,” said McAvinn, who calls himself a "bit of a jack-of-all-trades".

"f anything needed fixing,

I’d go up and fix it, rather than hiring somebody. I enjoyed doing that, but I was always running out of time.”

In addition to his family and council responsibilities, McAvinn works five to six days a week at the Independent Grocer in Kensington managing the meat department.

“I enjoy working, but I gotta slow down some and spend more time with the grandkids while I’m still around. I’ve got five grandsons and one granddaughter. She’s graduating this year and I hardly ever see her because she’s working part-time now too.”

Kinkora has been through a few other changes to council in the last six months or so.

First, Mayor Tina Harvey stepped down to become the town's chief administrative officer.

Then, acting mayor Janet Payne left to pursue her PhD. A byelection was scheduled for Nov. 4 but wasn't needed. Robert Duffy was acclaimed as Mayor, and Lesley Cousins was acclaimed to council.

During his years on council, McAvinn has seen lots of changes to his town, including the province’s Municipal Government Act (MGA).

“This way, everybody gets their job to do and gets a little committee going if they want, and gets things done. I found everybody works great that way,” he said. “I think (the MGA) helps councils. There is some stuff that makes it a little costly. It would be harder on the smaller communities than us, though.”

McAvinn has praise for the rest of the council and the staff and says someone with the right attitude will fit right in.

“You gotta be willing and open for discussion. You get some people who all they want to do is fight and argue,” said McAvinn, admitting he might have been one of those people when he first started on council. “It really opened my mind for proper discussions.”

Duffy said the town is fine for the time being.

“We’re going to probably call an election in the next, I can’t say for sure, but in the next couple of months,” said Duffy.

He’s already heard from a couple of residents who are interested in putting their names forward.

“It’s always great to have fresh people come on council. It’s great when they can do it during the election process and we’re not into a byelection, but I mean, different things come up in people’s lives at different times,” he said.