Clarke to run for re-election in Monaghan Ward
Coun. Henry Clarke is running for re-election in Monaghan Ward, even though he’d considered running for mayor instead.
Clarke, 66, has been a city councillor for 20 years and is the longtime deputy mayor. He said a lot of people asked him to run for mayor, and he thought about it.
“But I love my role looking after Monaghan Ward,” he said, adding that he also still works full-time as a planner at Pepsico (where he’s worked for 42 years).
Clarke was born and raised in Peterborough, and holds an Honours BA in history from Trent University.
He joined the army as a reservist in 1971, and retired a lieutenant-colonel. He’s married to Donna, and they have a grown son and a daughter-in-law.
Clarke was first appointed deputy mayor by former mayor Sylvia Sutherland, early in his career at City Hall, and has held that position ever since.
He’s also the city’s budget chairman, and he’s proud that the city’s credit rating under the bond rating agency Standard and Poor’s was upgraded to AA in December.
Meanwhile, Peterborough is making strides to try to build new affordable housing, Clarke noted.
“But there are still too many people going to bed hungry, and still too many people living in sub-standard housing – or have no housing at all,” he said.
He says he’s also concerned about the lack of employment lands in the city.
The city and the Township of Cavan Monaghan negotiated toward a prospective deal in 2017 that might’ve meant the annexation of township lands for the city.
But when no deal was reached, the city, township and County of Peterborough all asked the provincial government to intervene and help arrive at a solution (which hasn’t happened yet).
Clarke will be running in Monaghan Ward against fellow incumbent Coun. Don Vassiliadis, broadcaster Dave McGowan and Jeff Westlake, the campaign manager for Conservative MPP-elect Dave Smith.
The election is on Oct. 22.