Stanstead Mayor Jody Stone
Tête-à-têtes with your local elected officials
Editor’s note: The following is the first in a series of one-on-one conversations with some of the Townships’ elected officials. The series’ aim is to give the reader a more personal view on their lives, struggles, achievements, and takes on today’s pressing issues.
Balancing business ownership and mayoral duties, Mayor Jody Stone of Stanstead juggles a packed schedule to shine a light on his town, striving to manage and transform local challenges into opportunities for growth.
Despite the pressures of public office, Stone maintains a positive outlook, navigating the complexities of local governance with a focus on revitalizing Stanstead’s downtown core and enhancing community amenities, all while advocating for civility in public discourse.
Stone spoke with The Record over the phone April 18.
Stone said the toughest part of his job as mayor is trying to find the time to do everything. He owns a business with his wife, which gives him the flexibility to do everything he needs to, but it’s not always easy. Someone with a normal nine-to-five job would find it nearly impossible, he said. “The salary a mayor makes is not a full-time position,” Stone insisted.
Flexibility is required because meetings can be any time during the day, for which you must be available. Often citizens need to meet with him during the day. Cellphones, emails, and texting allows him to juggle all his obligations. He regularly works nights and weekends.
Stone said he personally puts in 30-40 hours every week just in his role as a public official. He is also the president of the Régie Incendie de Memphrémagog Est and sits on quite a few MRC committees. “I’m really involved because I want to… shed a light on Stanstead as much as I can,” he explained. That was his objective when he got elected.
What takes up most of his time is preparing for and sitting on meetings. There is a lot to read. But other local elected officials’ meetings are more “interesting,” he said. “I’m very lucky,” he said, “all of our meetings go very well.” He does not have to deal with a lot of the issues his colleagues in other parts have to deal with.
What issues? “Intimidation, pressures, people questioning politicians’ integrity, and transparency,” he explained. As of this moment, he has never had to deal with any of that. Stone was elected as Stanstead’s mayor in November 2021.
Stone admitted to dealing with some “unpleasant people.” That is part of the job and something you need to become good at dealing with. When it goes beyond unpleasant it becomes “difficult,” he said. He has not had anyone cross that line; he has never felt he has been intentionally criticized unfairly.
Stone commented that new legislation has been suggested to curb abusive behaviour towards politicians, but he is not sure exactly how it will work, if passed. It could involve fines, he said.
He understands why citizens can get upset over issues like zoning changes that affect what they can do on their property. This can cause people to “put down” those in charge. He speculated this new law, if passed, could keep people on the “more civil side.”
Switching tacks, Stone said a big issue Stanstead faces is the “revitalization of its downtown core.” Central is what will be done with the currently unused Del Monty hotel. The town took over ownership of the hotel in December 2021 and it has been vacant since 2017.
The town is allowing people to bid
on the project and there has been some interest, Stone said. He hopes the town will end up with some new ideas to present to the population. “It’s a negative we’re trying to turn into a positive,” he said.
Residents finding affordable homes and apartments is another “major issue” he is trying to tackle. On the positive side, a “small house” development is coming along well in Beebe. Some three or four houses are built already, he said, with another four more slotted to be built this year.
Stanstead’s new park, Generations Park, saw a lot of use last fall after it was officially opened in October, Stone
reported. This past mild winter was not the best for skating on the new rink in the park. “The weather kind of hurt us there,” Stone said with a chuckle.
This year the park’s parking lot will be fixed and a new barrier will be put up to keep cars in their designated areas. The town plans on planting more trees in the park. “Step by step we’ll keep improving it,” Stone said.
While no big events in Stanstead are coming up in the short term, Stone looks forward to Septemberfest and the second year of Festimusik in August. Festimusik last year was a “great success” and organizers are planning on making it even bigger this year.