Burrows bids farewell to politics.

After 15 years in municipal politics, the avuncular mayor of North Bay, Jack Burrows, leaves office this fall.

In June, Burrows announced he would not be seeking re-election in November. He is looking forward to spending more time with his wife Elaine, four children and nine grandchildren.

Those who have worked with Burrows at city hall describe him as a patient listener, willing to take advice, who will hear all sides and viewpoints before making a decision.

His gentlemanly manner, along with his consensus-building style and personal relationship skills, have lent him credibility and respect in many circles over the years in smoothing over many battles at city hall and across the North.

"You can bang heads all you want, but at the end of the day you get support faster if you get people on board," says Burrows, 71, who first ran for council in 1989 before becoming mayor in 1994.

He was acclaimed in 1997 and re-elected in 2000. As a businessman for many years running Burrows Country Store and Garden Centre until turning the reins over to his son-in-law, Bob Hudson, four years ago, Burrows previously served on the North Bay and District Health Care Centre and the North Bay Hospital Commission.

Among his list of accomplishments, Burrows cites the purchase of the CP Rail lands and helping to convince the federal government to keep CFB North Bay 22 Wing in the city for 20 years.

Burrows says working with MP Bob Wood to lobby the Department of National Defence to keep the North American Air Defence command bunker in North Bay was very gratifying.

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The announcement in August of the construction of a new $23-million surface command and control centre in 2005 should "cement" North Bay as a location for years to come.

The rail lands acquisition, Burrows views as a $12-million long-term investment in the city's future. After many discussions with CP Rail to convince the carrier to re-route its operations to make that property available to the public.

The proposed $30-million Passage North project was an elaborate tourist attraction that was difficult to sell to the public until the Community Waterfront Friends produced a plan of mixed uses involving residential, parkland and recreational development, he says.

"Looking back that was one thing I believed we had to do. We had a lot of opposition and skepticism (from taxpayers), but we had to weather the criticism and make it happen."

Acquiring the rail lands as a green space should link the waterfront attractions to the city's attempt to revitalize the downtown.

Burrows also listed the building of the new air terminal at Jack Garland Airport, growth at Nipissing University and Canadore College as well as construction projects including building of a new aquatic centre and the continuing four-laning of Highway 11 among projects he was most proud of.

As an active northern mayor, also serving as chairman of the Northeastern Mayors Action Group, Burrows helped formulate a five-mayors action plan, which was presented to the Minister of Northern Development and Mines to identify ways to economically stimulate and grow the region.

"We were talking about radical things like free tuition for kids wanting to go to northern universities, making sure Northern Medical School students intern in the North and more valued added stuff.

"Instead of shipping lumber and ore south, ship a desk or product down and create more jobs here instead of southern Ontario and northern U.S."

Burrows feels he is leaving office with North Bay in good financial and economic shape.

Moody's bond rating service looked upon North Bay's financial planning as favourable and raised the city's credit rating by two points.

In retirement, Burrows plans to spend more time golfing, travelling and vacationing at the cottage, though he promises to stay busy volunteering in the community.

He has been asked to put together a foundation reserve found for a special community project, which would be made available to organizations and sports groups.

The most rewarding part of the job has been the "ordinary stuff" - attending community functions or ribbon cuttings, watching businesses and organizations prosper and grow, he says. Bringing conflicting interests together to work out a solution has also been rewarding.

"If I can pull two people together that have a problem and they both move forward and prosper, then that's time well spent. As mayor you can bring the city to bear and use the influence you have to do things for those people that others couldn't."

Burrows says he leaves office with few concerns about business left undone and has an optimistic forecast for the North.

"When I talk to mayors and councillors, everybody's in the same boat. Ninety-five per cent in municipal office all want to make their communities a better place and collectively I get that feeling across the North," says Burrows. "The biggest thing they have to do is convince the provincial government to give them the tools to do what they want."

Burrows says it is long overdue, but there must be an earnest discussion between the three levels of government on how tax dollars should be spent on infrastructure for cities, and municipalities deserve a seat at the table to examine where funding must go.

Municipalities are forced to leaning too heavily on their local tax base to maintain and improve infrastructure.

By IAN ROSS 

Northern Ontario Business