Christine Cooper: Welcome to Conversations with the Candidates, Midland Votes 2026. Today I am so happy to welcome Counselor Jamie Lee Ball into our studio welcome, Jamie.
Jamie-Lee Ball: Hi, nice to see you. Thanks for having me.
Christine Cooper: you're so welcome. well, I guess this has been a minute since you signed on for this adventure of public service. And I mean, it has been crazy times. Let's be honest. You got elected in a pandemic. Then there was Deadpool Council. no disrespect to Jack and Jim. Rest in peace. And then that other little incident with a council member. I mean, these are crazy times. And then The chef's kiss on top of it all was we had a severe weather incident and a blackout in Midland. Was that a normal four years?
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah, it's funny that you say that because somebody was kind of I guess quantifying what council's done as a whole and put the ice storm as something that we've accomplished and I hadn't even thought about it as something we've accomplished because I think that's what made me want to run in the first place and why I want to continue to run is that I love this community and I am active in the community. So not because of politics. I didn't become more active because of politics. I've always been active in the community. I have three kids, they're active in the community. So I think like when there was an ice storm, you know, I'm just we're there, we're bringing I've bringing I brought old toys and books for the kids to be able to do. Like I think some other counselors brought food. I that's what I like about this council. It's like we're we're just in the community. We're there and it sounds I guess kind of silly, but I didn't even think of it as a council responsibility. Like we're we're just there for our community. And I think there were so many other people that were there for their community too that have nothing to do with politics or council, right? This is just a great community be to be a part of. So I loved it. And it has been an interesting four years. obviously that most of us were new. So that was a learning curve to begin with. And then yeah, two deaths which were difficult because those are people you're working with on a close basis. So that was hard in itself. but then trying to go through a process of picking another counselor to be a part of the team and trying to then they have the learning curve as well. So it has been really interesting, but I think I'm proud of this council. We have not lost respect for each other. We've focused on the goals of Midland and the residents and I like I think that's a feat in itself. So
Christine Cooper: Well, I was gonna ask you to reflect on the past four years, but I think you just gave me a really good capsule of that. But I wanna just ask you you said you came in this was a pretty rookie team, with the exception of Beth and Bill, Everybody else was a neophyte, pretty much, right? And so what did you learn that you didn't know at the start? we come in with our rose-colored glasses and we think we're gonna change the world and do all this wonderful stuff. And the next thing you know, bam, reality sets in. So what does Jamie Lee know now that Jamie Lee did not know when she started this adventure out?
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah, I think I had a belief that things would move faster. And I think as a council and when comparing to other municipalities and other governments, we have moved faster. We have gone through a lot of things that we said we're gonna do, and it has definitely not been as stagnant four years, which that is the case in some municipalities, but I think that I like to get things done. So I think that there's a process for everything, which I've been I think that's like I have not released my platform, but that's kind of my platform is like I want to break down the barriers of that in all aspects. I I think that the processes are necessary. I understand why they're there, but there needs to be a leeway or an ability to kind of cut those barriers down a bit so that it's not such a lengthy process to get things done. So that is something that I've have found frustrating that I'm I'm very vocal. If you are watching the council meetings, I'm not holding anything back. So I think that's no surprise to anyone that I feel that way. And I want to continue to do that. I want to continue to break down those barriers and work collaboratively. So I think that has been I wouldn't say it was an eye opener, but it is definitely something I thought would move a bit quicker than it did. So I feel like I'm
Christine Cooper: Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: just getting like we're we had the collaboration, we prepared things, we've done things, and now it's like time to get re-elected. So I think
Christine Cooper: The time has flown over these four years. I have some questions for you. I put together some questions
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah, of course.
Christine Cooper: that I hear a lot of feedback from people. And I've been hearing a lot of things from people who are dropping me messages saying, ask this, ask that. And I'm like, ask them yourself, right? But
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah, of course.
Christine Cooper: first of all, do you know off the top of your head what the voter turnout in the last election was and how Midland fared in comparison to its neighbors in terms of its electoral turnout?
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah, I wanna say it was around thirty-three percent. Not great. Okay, so
Christine Cooper: Thirty five, thirty-five, not great either way, not great.
Jamie-Lee Ball: so yeah. and I would say it fares pretty similarly to other elections and other
Christine Cooper: well, other municipalities actually it were on the lower end of it. I was shocked to see that Wasega Beach had fifty percent turnout in that last municipal election. I guess when you have issues on the table and development
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah, and then
Christine Cooper: on the table, it brings people out,
Jamie-Lee Ball: I guess that's true. But I think we also did the last election and I say fifty percent to me is like yes, it's twenty percent higher than we were, but
Christine Cooper: Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: it's still not great. It's still a low turnout.
Christine Cooper: Right. if do you know what the national average is for municipal election turnouts across the country?
Jamie-Lee Ball: I I I don't know the exact number. I would have to look it up on but do you know it? 'Cause I'm sure it's I'm sure it's around I'm sure it's around half. Like I I wouldn't Yeah.
Christine Cooper: It don't worry, I'll tell it. yeah, I know it. It's 39%. municipal elections ha have the lowest turnout of all three tiers of of government, which is crazy to me because it's the level of government that you're most accessible to. Like our counselors live are our neighbors. We see them in the grocery store, we see them at the community center. It's just crazy that, don't have this big number of turnout unless there's something really going wrong. So what do you think you want to be or have as the top three priorities for the incoming council? what do you think are the top three issues going in to this new incoming council?
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah, absolutely. So I'll I will address this, but I'll address kind of the lower voter turnout. I think people don't know what's what your counselors are actually doing. And there's so many tiers and I think this is what I was saying about breaking down barriers, is especially with the homelessness that's happening and all the drug epidemic and people are mad at counsel for that. And yes, we have a responsibility to our community, but we're as frustrated as anyone else about it because that is one of the issues I think going forward that needs to be addressed as well. Is that We do have an issue, like every municipality has an issue with the homelessness and drugs. And that's we are part of a two-tiered system where Simcoe County is in charge of that funding. Simcoe County oversees all of that. So when we really boil it down to us, is our our tax dollars are going to the county to deal with this and it's out of our hands, which is such a frustrating thing for me, for you, for everyone. Like I have three small kids in the community. The last thing I want to do is go and look at the park and take them there and look for needles first. That's Absolutely. Like I'm not sitting there. I know that's a perception. And I think that's why the turnout is low, is that we're out of touch. We don't know what's happening. we don't care about the community and that that is not the case at all. It's especially not the case for me. I have three kids growing up in this community that are using all of these parks and services and have to walk downtown like at as every other resident does. So that is an issue. I have been trying to work for the last four years to break down those barriers already. So I sit with community service providers on a bi-monthly basis to to try and develop a more collaborative approach to have better advocacy of what exactly our goal is. the Hope Health and Housing Symposium that Catherine McDonald initiated, I was a part of that committee planning that with the service providers and her as well, some other counselors and staff to try to get that collective voice so we can have a firm advocacy in our community where we're saying like, no, we this is not okay. the things that are happening in our community are not okay. And you see that in Barrie as well, where they've actually asked the Simcoe County to give them the funding directly so they can manage their own town funding and their own services. And I think that's that's not off the table. I think I don't know if it'll ever happen. They haven't got far with it, but I think that's the right approach. Like we need to be stepping up and saying it's not okay. So there was unfortunately
Christine Cooper: So you're saying that the model needs to be adjusted, right?
Jamie-Lee Ball: The model. It's yeah, and it's a systematic problem across multi-levels. Like I currently work in the mental health system, the Mental Health Act, it it needs a reform. Our jail systems need a reform.
Christine Cooper: Of course. Yep.
Jamie-Lee Ball: And I think that when you're discussing which level of government does what, a lot of that is thought to be federal.
Christine Cooper: Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: But it isn't. is a provincial approach and
Christine Cooper: do you think we need to go back to teaching some civics in school these days so people understand the tiers and who does what in in governance?
Jamie-Lee Ball: I think they are teaching that but I think that I I think everybody, like you lose sight of that because there's so many layers and
Christine Cooper: Mm.
Jamie-Lee Ball: there is so many people telling you which level of government does what or and i I know I get this all the time because I'm a huge advocate of going on Facebook and putting myself out there and trying to like say like this is the facts. I don't say that we don't own any of these problems. We do as leaders 100%, which is why I joined these committees and try to see exactly from a frontline worker perspective. I am a frontline worker, not in Midland when Penatanguishing at Waypoint, but I understand that you have to look at these issues and you have to advocate as a whole. And what do these agencies actually need? What are the issues they're actually facing? So one of them was bus tickets. We
Christine Cooper: Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: as a municipality, we had a card system. So we changed it. We don't have any so how do they now as an agency use their funding to activate a three-dollar card for one ride? It's not plausible. So that is something that we worked towards with that com that committee. And now they have these bus tickets that they can hand out that the municipality uses as a paper form and they have the way of tracking it now. That's something that your municipal leaders can do for you.
Christine Cooper: thank you time is flying. So I wanna move this discussion along. Cause like I said, I have a long list of questions here, right? Yeah. So
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah. Yeah, I can add yeah, absolutely. I can address like two other issues if you want.
Christine Cooper: We're gonna move on because we're already into the like twelve and a half
Jamie-Lee Ball: Perfect.
Christine Cooper: minutes here. you know, everybody rants about Fiscal responsibility and the taxpayer base Let's talk about fiscal responsibility and budget management. Now that you've gone through an actual process of doing a budget, I'm sure that was an eye-opener. And and I'm assuming you're obviously very familiar with the operating budget, which is about $42 million, when we take a quick look at the overview of the operating budget. it's like fifty percent is public works and what we call protection services, which is policing, fire and emergency services, ambulance, right? That's half the budget. And and out of that, policing section, you literally have no control over that. I wanna ask you, you know, when people complain about, the way the council spends their money, when you look at this budget and I look through the twenty-two pages of the budget, like the disbursements and everything, tell me what you think.
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah, so I would say that this council, I think that if people look at the data points of how long the meetings are, how many questions we're asking, how much I think Mayor Gordon refers to it as the weeds of it is we're getting into that weeds. Like we're asking the questions, and I think that at the beginning, we were having less detailed reports. And I we've asked for more and I think that that's more just for the the transparency that I think people felt didn't exist before. to say what exactly does this cost, how much, down to the nitty-gritty of it, because we want the public to see that and we w we want to see that and we want to know that staff are being fiscally responsible. I think that we had a lot of cases of that this term. We had a new generator that we bought after the ice storm, which had been historically said no to. For a long
Christine Cooper: Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: time because it's a huge expense. I know there's been a lot of talk this term about who pays for what with the shared service when we have you know, external municipalities that are so close to us and and utilizing the things like a generator, a warming station, et cetera. So, but I think that we did have staff members actually go and find the best deal and and source that out and and they have been, I think. doing that for a long time and whether that was the case always and that we didn't see that, but I think it's it's
Christine Cooper: Mm.
Jamie-Lee Ball: being shown now and I I think that we have done a great job with the budget. There are some frustrating things with the budget that you can't do anything about like the staffing cost. Yeah, and those
Christine Cooper: Like I'm right. Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: staffing costs, those are unionized staffing costs. So we can't
Christine Cooper: Thank you.
Jamie-Lee Ball: you can't expect a council from this point forward to renegotiate new un like if you've ever re no negotiated with union, you know you're not going backwards. You can and I think this is probably the first term where we haven't had the animosity between staff and unions. Like we've been able to negotiate fair agreements and they have not been agreements that are hurting the municipality more. And
Christine Cooper: Why do you think that there's been a rollback in that animosity? you just said, it's been a much better interaction between you the staff in the union and the and the town. W what do you think the difference is?
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah, and I would say that for the case of all agencies. I think that was seen with the BIA, that was seen with the library, was seen with the cultural center. I think that you have different staff, you have a different
Christine Cooper: Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: CEO. And I'm not saying that's a that is a change or that is an issue from before. I think those all those staff members and all and the previous C V CEO also did have a place and did well in their jobs. So that's not
Christine Cooper: Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: I wouldn't say that is an entire part of it, but I think that the expectation of having different staff departments under different ways, like there's been an entire overhaul in town hall of just which departments even report to what departments. So the wet department head. So I think that that maybe wasn't working as strongly before. So you don't have the same efficiencies as you would now. And I think the CEO we have in place has kind of restructured the organization in that way. And just having the ability to have the right person looking at the top and being in charge of the right departments, I think has really improved the ability for communication. And it's been, I think, improving our town as a whole. And I think the relationship between staff and council and the fact that council is so involved. So they do want to know everything. They're not just accepting the facts. taking the residents' voices and and we're saying, okay, well what about this? What about this? so I think that we've been told we're overstepping a few times, you know, but I think the mayor tries to remind us like this is not our role a lot, but which is which is fair.
Christine Cooper: Right. Well, of at the end of the day, you're the board of directors, And there's management and then there's micromanagement, and then there's a level below micromanagement that almost becomes adversarial between staff and counsel, and it's perceived that way publicly, and that serves no one well. And people could
Jamie-Lee Ball: Exactly.
Christine Cooper: say what they mean. They just don't have to say it mean. And sometimes when there's the interaction between staff and different levels and different agencies, the tone we bring to the table and the way we say our words changes the game, right? And that's the kind of counselor I want to have. So I want to have
Jamie-Lee Ball: Mm-hmm.
Christine Cooper: that kind of counselor. Midland has unveiled a community vision strategy, which includes a public engagement process, a little pop-ups that we've seen as a way to engage. the residents and the public at large to speak up in order to help the town to develop a shared vision for the future of Midland to 2050. I applaud that long term vision. Huge. Okay. First of all, have you participated on the online survey?
Jamie-Lee Ball: So I have not because I actually will give my opinion to the consultant directly. So have
Christine Cooper: Okay. Has anybody in your family participated? Like your partner? Okay. Okay, just asking.
Jamie-Lee Ball: They have not yet. So they will though. because I well, I want to say I was probably the biggest advocate for this project. I I really
Christine Cooper: Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: was I knew it was going to be a hard sell at the budget. that is something we do have control over. That is something that we want to be physically responsible for, and it was a larger ask that. you know, in a in a tough economy, it's hard to put that resource into that. And especially when we have had a lot of consultant studies this term. And I think that I hate it and I love it because I hate paying for them. I think it's frustrating. But I also do not want to pay for one and not the other. Because I think that is I don't want to say stupid, but it it is. Like we're
Christine Cooper: It's okay. You could say stupid, it's okay.
Jamie-Lee Ball: You know, if we're if we're paying for a study that doesn't correlate with another study, what is the point of doing one? you need to know where you stand on all levels to make it a a smart planning process. So I'm most excited about this project because I think that is an issue in politics on every level is like we focus on I'm glad.
Christine Cooper: I I'm excited about this project because my my kid is a Muni employee in Whistler. She's a planner specializing in environmental design. She's there revisioning the Whistler village and Creekside and everything. And I asked her about asking questions and she said something really interesting to me. And I think that this exercise speaks to that, which is you talk about the tree that you plant today. And the shade that it gives you in twenty five years. So this is this
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yes, exactly. And you
Christine Cooper: is the tree.
Jamie-Lee Ball: and you don't see that in politics because you're there for four years. You don't want
Christine Cooper: Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: to feel like you accomplished nothing. But I think that We have a good council in place where we are looking at the future and we're like, we are here because we are thinking of the future. We're not here
Christine Cooper: Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: to to check boxes in four years. We're here because we want an we want a community that's lasting. We recognize that there's an aging population. I think COVID changed our population in Midland. Where you saw a lot of families coming from different places moving to Midland with younger families. so we still do have an aging population, but we do need to focus on what happens when we don't have an aging population anymore. What are we doing for our residents? What are we doing? And I think I'm a huge advocate for ad economic development. Like we really need to be bringing companies here and offering an economic development platform that where companies want to actually come here is
Christine Cooper: so I gotta sidebar you on this one. Speaking of economic
Jamie-Lee Ball: At first, though.
Christine Cooper: development and companies coming here. And speaking of planning for the future, we are witnessing the rise of the AI data centers. MJ and I just interviewed Nick Tsergas the guy who's behind the stopthedatacenter.ca website. He a Hamiltonian and that popped up in his community. Barrie has applications on the table. And we know that eventually they're gonna head north because we have water and we have space and they need both
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah.
Christine Cooper: of those things. So it's become apparent that data center applications are a municipal responsibility. It comes down to each single individual municipality, and we are witnessing a backlash against data centers because. there is clear evidence that long term they aren't good, but they come in with this. We're gonna give you a tax base, we're gonna create jobs, we're gonna do this, blah blah blah. And we're finding out in fact that maybe that's not quite the picture. But the truth is, a lot of communities don't really fully know the long-term impact of having a data center in their community. So Hamilton put a moratoria on applications. To look into what those impacts would be. Like you, there's at some point they're gonna come. And there are different types of data centers. I don't know if you're aware of that. They are different types of data centers that do different things. I mean, there's lots of them around now. we're using probably something through a data center to make this happen. So AI can be good and AI can be bad. how I feel that municipalities need to get out in front. before the applications start to roll in and have some safeguards put into place before they start getting flooded with applications. How do you feel about this?
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah, it's funny. I'm just chuckling to myself 'cause my fourteen year old, it's his favorite topic right now is data centers, which I just
Christine Cooper: really?
Jamie-Lee Ball: yeah, I just think it's hilarious that it's his fa like so
Christine Cooper: Well listen, you know what? When we drop the next pod with the data center interview, I'll send you the link you can listen in because this guy is leading the way on it. So it's a really interesting discussion.
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah, perfect. He will love that. So I appreciate that. But yeah, data centers are an interesting point because we don't know enough about them. And I think that's been my I think a lot of the things I'm gonna segue off here for a minute is that I have voted no to a few things this term because when you wanna make an informed choice, there isn't a long term no and facts about anything. Like you you look at it like the microtransit situation. I think I was the only one out of both councils that voted no for it. And I and it's because I talk to other municipalities and I I ask the questions long based on a long term and not when we're getting reports and when we have the information in front of us, we're looking at it from a first few years perspective. And that's just the way that the processes have been working because especially with data centers, there isn't that long term data that we have access to. So we can't make a choice that's as informed as it should be for the future, which I don't like. So I don't want to make choices that I don't know the impact in 25 years because that's what we need to focus on. So I think it's good like we're a smaller municipality and other larger municipalities will lead the way before us and they will have that data. And I think it's important that when As a counselor, you are responsible for your own community, but you're responsible of making that informed choice based off of the research that's out there, not just in your municipality, but around you. So, what is the impact of data centers? What have our other municipalities looked at and seen? So there is a case for them because we have all
Christine Cooper: Right, absolutely.
Jamie-Lee Ball: we've all witnessed the municipalities being blackmailed and having their IT taken over and Obviously we've put a lot of safeguards and money into IT to protect ourselves, but when you're doing things like recording meetings and you're looking at such sensitive information, like you want to ensure the data is going somewhere where you can be protected. So I
Christine Cooper: It's safe, right? Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: understand the push for having them inside Canada. but there has been a lot of they they use a lot of energy, they use a lot of water, yep.
Christine Cooper: And water and they make a lot of noise.
Jamie-Lee Ball: And they don't offer as many jobs as they want to tell you they do. So
Christine Cooper: No, not at all. They're just time is running out. I'm coming down to a few minutes now. So I'm gonna do some rapid questions to you. And I want a
Jamie-Lee Ball: Sure. Okay.
Christine Cooper: yay or a nay or a yes or a no or absolutely not. Okay.
Jamie-Lee Ball: Okay.
Christine Cooper: term limits, sunset clauses, yay or nay. Yay or nay.
Jamie-Lee Ball: I'd say yes.
Christine Cooper: Okay, thank you. Should the deputy mayor seat be eliminated by this incoming council, reducing the council by one sitting council member? Yay or nay.
Jamie-Lee Ball: Nay
Christine Cooper: Speed cameras that Ford canceled, do you support having them in the community? Yes or no?
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yay and nay. I have a
Christine Cooper: Okay.
Jamie-Lee Ball: Talk to me about them later.
Christine Cooper: yeah, we'll we'll talk about it another time. Do you have a library card? Okay, thank you. By laws for kick scooters. Okay. This is a this is a driving around little community on every gadget you can imagine. Kick scooters are turning out to be the little vehicles from hell. do council does council need to address bylaws specifically around these types of motorized vehicles? Yay or nay. Thank you. And I think I just asked you about AI centers. And we heard a lot of silly talk online about the Midland Butter Tart Festival. Should its location in downtown Midland be changed Yay or nay. Okay,
Jamie-Lee Ball: Night, ne.
Christine Cooper: thank you. we're coming down to home stretch. We've got a couple minutes left. So Jamie Lee, tell us why we should re-elect you?
Jamie-Lee Ball: Absolutely. So I think that if you've been watching, I think I've prob you probably know that if you want an answer, I'm going to get it for you. I'm informed. I think we just discussed that. I like to be informed from all levels. And I also think that I care. I if you get a hold of me, I'm going to find an answer for you. I'm going to do everything I can to fix that problem. And if I can't, you're going to know exactly why. and exactly h what path forward you need to take and I will collaborate with you for that. So I think I'm big on collaboration. I'm big on being involved and I I am d I am accessible and I think that I say what I I mean and I listen to what people are are telling me. So I think if
Christine Cooper: Thank you.
Jamie-Lee Ball: if you've seen it, you know, but I hope that you can continue and get a hold of me. And if you have any questions, then I am here. So and I will answer.
Christine Cooper: Thank you so much. Jamie Lee, thank you for your time. I wish you the best of luck in your reelection run. all the best to you. Thank you for joining
Jamie-Lee Ball: Thank you so much.
Christine Cooper: us. You've been listening to Conversations with the Candidates, Midland Votes 2026, hosted by myself, Christine Cooper. And we'll catch you on the flip side.
Jamie-Lee Ball: Hi, nice to see you. Thanks for having me.
Christine Cooper: you're so welcome. well, I guess this has been a minute since you signed on for this adventure of public service. And I mean, it has been crazy times. Let's be honest. You got elected in a pandemic. Then there was Deadpool Council. no disrespect to Jack and Jim. Rest in peace. And then that other little incident with a council member. I mean, these are crazy times. And then The chef's kiss on top of it all was we had a severe weather incident and a blackout in Midland. Was that a normal four years?
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah, it's funny that you say that because somebody was kind of I guess quantifying what council's done as a whole and put the ice storm as something that we've accomplished and I hadn't even thought about it as something we've accomplished because I think that's what made me want to run in the first place and why I want to continue to run is that I love this community and I am active in the community. So not because of politics. I didn't become more active because of politics. I've always been active in the community. I have three kids, they're active in the community. So I think like when there was an ice storm, you know, I'm just we're there, we're bringing I've bringing I brought old toys and books for the kids to be able to do. Like I think some other counselors brought food. I that's what I like about this council. It's like we're we're just in the community. We're there and it sounds I guess kind of silly, but I didn't even think of it as a council responsibility. Like we're we're just there for our community. And I think there were so many other people that were there for their community too that have nothing to do with politics or council, right? This is just a great community be to be a part of. So I loved it. And it has been an interesting four years. obviously that most of us were new. So that was a learning curve to begin with. And then yeah, two deaths which were difficult because those are people you're working with on a close basis. So that was hard in itself. but then trying to go through a process of picking another counselor to be a part of the team and trying to then they have the learning curve as well. So it has been really interesting, but I think I'm proud of this council. We have not lost respect for each other. We've focused on the goals of Midland and the residents and I like I think that's a feat in itself. So
Christine Cooper: Well, I was gonna ask you to reflect on the past four years, but I think you just gave me a really good capsule of that. But I wanna just ask you you said you came in this was a pretty rookie team, with the exception of Beth and Bill, Everybody else was a neophyte, pretty much, right? And so what did you learn that you didn't know at the start? we come in with our rose-colored glasses and we think we're gonna change the world and do all this wonderful stuff. And the next thing you know, bam, reality sets in. So what does Jamie Lee know now that Jamie Lee did not know when she started this adventure out?
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah, I think I had a belief that things would move faster. And I think as a council and when comparing to other municipalities and other governments, we have moved faster. We have gone through a lot of things that we said we're gonna do, and it has definitely not been as stagnant four years, which that is the case in some municipalities, but I think that I like to get things done. So I think that there's a process for everything, which I've been I think that's like I have not released my platform, but that's kind of my platform is like I want to break down the barriers of that in all aspects. I I think that the processes are necessary. I understand why they're there, but there needs to be a leeway or an ability to kind of cut those barriers down a bit so that it's not such a lengthy process to get things done. So that is something that I've have found frustrating that I'm I'm very vocal. If you are watching the council meetings, I'm not holding anything back. So I think that's no surprise to anyone that I feel that way. And I want to continue to do that. I want to continue to break down those barriers and work collaboratively. So I think that has been I wouldn't say it was an eye opener, but it is definitely something I thought would move a bit quicker than it did. So I feel like I'm
Christine Cooper: Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: just getting like we're we had the collaboration, we prepared things, we've done things, and now it's like time to get re-elected. So I think
Christine Cooper: The time has flown over these four years. I have some questions for you. I put together some questions
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah, of course.
Christine Cooper: that I hear a lot of feedback from people. And I've been hearing a lot of things from people who are dropping me messages saying, ask this, ask that. And I'm like, ask them yourself, right? But
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah, of course.
Christine Cooper: first of all, do you know off the top of your head what the voter turnout in the last election was and how Midland fared in comparison to its neighbors in terms of its electoral turnout?
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah, I wanna say it was around thirty-three percent. Not great. Okay, so
Christine Cooper: Thirty five, thirty-five, not great either way, not great.
Jamie-Lee Ball: so yeah. and I would say it fares pretty similarly to other elections and other
Christine Cooper: well, other municipalities actually it were on the lower end of it. I was shocked to see that Wasega Beach had fifty percent turnout in that last municipal election. I guess when you have issues on the table and development
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah, and then
Christine Cooper: on the table, it brings people out,
Jamie-Lee Ball: I guess that's true. But I think we also did the last election and I say fifty percent to me is like yes, it's twenty percent higher than we were, but
Christine Cooper: Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: it's still not great. It's still a low turnout.
Christine Cooper: Right. if do you know what the national average is for municipal election turnouts across the country?
Jamie-Lee Ball: I I I don't know the exact number. I would have to look it up on but do you know it? 'Cause I'm sure it's I'm sure it's around I'm sure it's around half. Like I I wouldn't Yeah.
Christine Cooper: It don't worry, I'll tell it. yeah, I know it. It's 39%. municipal elections ha have the lowest turnout of all three tiers of of government, which is crazy to me because it's the level of government that you're most accessible to. Like our counselors live are our neighbors. We see them in the grocery store, we see them at the community center. It's just crazy that, don't have this big number of turnout unless there's something really going wrong. So what do you think you want to be or have as the top three priorities for the incoming council? what do you think are the top three issues going in to this new incoming council?
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah, absolutely. So I'll I will address this, but I'll address kind of the lower voter turnout. I think people don't know what's what your counselors are actually doing. And there's so many tiers and I think this is what I was saying about breaking down barriers, is especially with the homelessness that's happening and all the drug epidemic and people are mad at counsel for that. And yes, we have a responsibility to our community, but we're as frustrated as anyone else about it because that is one of the issues I think going forward that needs to be addressed as well. Is that We do have an issue, like every municipality has an issue with the homelessness and drugs. And that's we are part of a two-tiered system where Simcoe County is in charge of that funding. Simcoe County oversees all of that. So when we really boil it down to us, is our our tax dollars are going to the county to deal with this and it's out of our hands, which is such a frustrating thing for me, for you, for everyone. Like I have three small kids in the community. The last thing I want to do is go and look at the park and take them there and look for needles first. That's Absolutely. Like I'm not sitting there. I know that's a perception. And I think that's why the turnout is low, is that we're out of touch. We don't know what's happening. we don't care about the community and that that is not the case at all. It's especially not the case for me. I have three kids growing up in this community that are using all of these parks and services and have to walk downtown like at as every other resident does. So that is an issue. I have been trying to work for the last four years to break down those barriers already. So I sit with community service providers on a bi-monthly basis to to try and develop a more collaborative approach to have better advocacy of what exactly our goal is. the Hope Health and Housing Symposium that Catherine McDonald initiated, I was a part of that committee planning that with the service providers and her as well, some other counselors and staff to try to get that collective voice so we can have a firm advocacy in our community where we're saying like, no, we this is not okay. the things that are happening in our community are not okay. And you see that in Barrie as well, where they've actually asked the Simcoe County to give them the funding directly so they can manage their own town funding and their own services. And I think that's that's not off the table. I think I don't know if it'll ever happen. They haven't got far with it, but I think that's the right approach. Like we need to be stepping up and saying it's not okay. So there was unfortunately
Christine Cooper: So you're saying that the model needs to be adjusted, right?
Jamie-Lee Ball: The model. It's yeah, and it's a systematic problem across multi-levels. Like I currently work in the mental health system, the Mental Health Act, it it needs a reform. Our jail systems need a reform.
Christine Cooper: Of course. Yep.
Jamie-Lee Ball: And I think that when you're discussing which level of government does what, a lot of that is thought to be federal.
Christine Cooper: Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: But it isn't. is a provincial approach and
Christine Cooper: do you think we need to go back to teaching some civics in school these days so people understand the tiers and who does what in in governance?
Jamie-Lee Ball: I think they are teaching that but I think that I I think everybody, like you lose sight of that because there's so many layers and
Christine Cooper: Mm.
Jamie-Lee Ball: there is so many people telling you which level of government does what or and i I know I get this all the time because I'm a huge advocate of going on Facebook and putting myself out there and trying to like say like this is the facts. I don't say that we don't own any of these problems. We do as leaders 100%, which is why I joined these committees and try to see exactly from a frontline worker perspective. I am a frontline worker, not in Midland when Penatanguishing at Waypoint, but I understand that you have to look at these issues and you have to advocate as a whole. And what do these agencies actually need? What are the issues they're actually facing? So one of them was bus tickets. We
Christine Cooper: Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: as a municipality, we had a card system. So we changed it. We don't have any so how do they now as an agency use their funding to activate a three-dollar card for one ride? It's not plausible. So that is something that we worked towards with that com that committee. And now they have these bus tickets that they can hand out that the municipality uses as a paper form and they have the way of tracking it now. That's something that your municipal leaders can do for you.
Christine Cooper: thank you time is flying. So I wanna move this discussion along. Cause like I said, I have a long list of questions here, right? Yeah. So
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah. Yeah, I can add yeah, absolutely. I can address like two other issues if you want.
Christine Cooper: We're gonna move on because we're already into the like twelve and a half
Jamie-Lee Ball: Perfect.
Christine Cooper: minutes here. you know, everybody rants about Fiscal responsibility and the taxpayer base Let's talk about fiscal responsibility and budget management. Now that you've gone through an actual process of doing a budget, I'm sure that was an eye-opener. And and I'm assuming you're obviously very familiar with the operating budget, which is about $42 million, when we take a quick look at the overview of the operating budget. it's like fifty percent is public works and what we call protection services, which is policing, fire and emergency services, ambulance, right? That's half the budget. And and out of that, policing section, you literally have no control over that. I wanna ask you, you know, when people complain about, the way the council spends their money, when you look at this budget and I look through the twenty-two pages of the budget, like the disbursements and everything, tell me what you think.
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah, so I would say that this council, I think that if people look at the data points of how long the meetings are, how many questions we're asking, how much I think Mayor Gordon refers to it as the weeds of it is we're getting into that weeds. Like we're asking the questions, and I think that at the beginning, we were having less detailed reports. And I we've asked for more and I think that that's more just for the the transparency that I think people felt didn't exist before. to say what exactly does this cost, how much, down to the nitty-gritty of it, because we want the public to see that and we w we want to see that and we want to know that staff are being fiscally responsible. I think that we had a lot of cases of that this term. We had a new generator that we bought after the ice storm, which had been historically said no to. For a long
Christine Cooper: Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: time because it's a huge expense. I know there's been a lot of talk this term about who pays for what with the shared service when we have you know, external municipalities that are so close to us and and utilizing the things like a generator, a warming station, et cetera. So, but I think that we did have staff members actually go and find the best deal and and source that out and and they have been, I think. doing that for a long time and whether that was the case always and that we didn't see that, but I think it's it's
Christine Cooper: Mm.
Jamie-Lee Ball: being shown now and I I think that we have done a great job with the budget. There are some frustrating things with the budget that you can't do anything about like the staffing cost. Yeah, and those
Christine Cooper: Like I'm right. Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: staffing costs, those are unionized staffing costs. So we can't
Christine Cooper: Thank you.
Jamie-Lee Ball: you can't expect a council from this point forward to renegotiate new un like if you've ever re no negotiated with union, you know you're not going backwards. You can and I think this is probably the first term where we haven't had the animosity between staff and unions. Like we've been able to negotiate fair agreements and they have not been agreements that are hurting the municipality more. And
Christine Cooper: Why do you think that there's been a rollback in that animosity? you just said, it's been a much better interaction between you the staff in the union and the and the town. W what do you think the difference is?
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah, and I would say that for the case of all agencies. I think that was seen with the BIA, that was seen with the library, was seen with the cultural center. I think that you have different staff, you have a different
Christine Cooper: Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: CEO. And I'm not saying that's a that is a change or that is an issue from before. I think those all those staff members and all and the previous C V CEO also did have a place and did well in their jobs. So that's not
Christine Cooper: Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: I wouldn't say that is an entire part of it, but I think that the expectation of having different staff departments under different ways, like there's been an entire overhaul in town hall of just which departments even report to what departments. So the wet department head. So I think that that maybe wasn't working as strongly before. So you don't have the same efficiencies as you would now. And I think the CEO we have in place has kind of restructured the organization in that way. And just having the ability to have the right person looking at the top and being in charge of the right departments, I think has really improved the ability for communication. And it's been, I think, improving our town as a whole. And I think the relationship between staff and council and the fact that council is so involved. So they do want to know everything. They're not just accepting the facts. taking the residents' voices and and we're saying, okay, well what about this? What about this? so I think that we've been told we're overstepping a few times, you know, but I think the mayor tries to remind us like this is not our role a lot, but which is which is fair.
Christine Cooper: Right. Well, of at the end of the day, you're the board of directors, And there's management and then there's micromanagement, and then there's a level below micromanagement that almost becomes adversarial between staff and counsel, and it's perceived that way publicly, and that serves no one well. And people could
Jamie-Lee Ball: Exactly.
Christine Cooper: say what they mean. They just don't have to say it mean. And sometimes when there's the interaction between staff and different levels and different agencies, the tone we bring to the table and the way we say our words changes the game, right? And that's the kind of counselor I want to have. So I want to have
Jamie-Lee Ball: Mm-hmm.
Christine Cooper: that kind of counselor. Midland has unveiled a community vision strategy, which includes a public engagement process, a little pop-ups that we've seen as a way to engage. the residents and the public at large to speak up in order to help the town to develop a shared vision for the future of Midland to 2050. I applaud that long term vision. Huge. Okay. First of all, have you participated on the online survey?
Jamie-Lee Ball: So I have not because I actually will give my opinion to the consultant directly. So have
Christine Cooper: Okay. Has anybody in your family participated? Like your partner? Okay. Okay, just asking.
Jamie-Lee Ball: They have not yet. So they will though. because I well, I want to say I was probably the biggest advocate for this project. I I really
Christine Cooper: Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: was I knew it was going to be a hard sell at the budget. that is something we do have control over. That is something that we want to be physically responsible for, and it was a larger ask that. you know, in a in a tough economy, it's hard to put that resource into that. And especially when we have had a lot of consultant studies this term. And I think that I hate it and I love it because I hate paying for them. I think it's frustrating. But I also do not want to pay for one and not the other. Because I think that is I don't want to say stupid, but it it is. Like we're
Christine Cooper: It's okay. You could say stupid, it's okay.
Jamie-Lee Ball: You know, if we're if we're paying for a study that doesn't correlate with another study, what is the point of doing one? you need to know where you stand on all levels to make it a a smart planning process. So I'm most excited about this project because I think that is an issue in politics on every level is like we focus on I'm glad.
Christine Cooper: I I'm excited about this project because my my kid is a Muni employee in Whistler. She's a planner specializing in environmental design. She's there revisioning the Whistler village and Creekside and everything. And I asked her about asking questions and she said something really interesting to me. And I think that this exercise speaks to that, which is you talk about the tree that you plant today. And the shade that it gives you in twenty five years. So this is this
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yes, exactly. And you
Christine Cooper: is the tree.
Jamie-Lee Ball: and you don't see that in politics because you're there for four years. You don't want
Christine Cooper: Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: to feel like you accomplished nothing. But I think that We have a good council in place where we are looking at the future and we're like, we are here because we are thinking of the future. We're not here
Christine Cooper: Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: to to check boxes in four years. We're here because we want an we want a community that's lasting. We recognize that there's an aging population. I think COVID changed our population in Midland. Where you saw a lot of families coming from different places moving to Midland with younger families. so we still do have an aging population, but we do need to focus on what happens when we don't have an aging population anymore. What are we doing for our residents? What are we doing? And I think I'm a huge advocate for ad economic development. Like we really need to be bringing companies here and offering an economic development platform that where companies want to actually come here is
Christine Cooper: so I gotta sidebar you on this one. Speaking of economic
Jamie-Lee Ball: At first, though.
Christine Cooper: development and companies coming here. And speaking of planning for the future, we are witnessing the rise of the AI data centers. MJ and I just interviewed Nick Tsergas the guy who's behind the stopthedatacenter.ca website. He a Hamiltonian and that popped up in his community. Barrie has applications on the table. And we know that eventually they're gonna head north because we have water and we have space and they need both
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah.
Christine Cooper: of those things. So it's become apparent that data center applications are a municipal responsibility. It comes down to each single individual municipality, and we are witnessing a backlash against data centers because. there is clear evidence that long term they aren't good, but they come in with this. We're gonna give you a tax base, we're gonna create jobs, we're gonna do this, blah blah blah. And we're finding out in fact that maybe that's not quite the picture. But the truth is, a lot of communities don't really fully know the long-term impact of having a data center in their community. So Hamilton put a moratoria on applications. To look into what those impacts would be. Like you, there's at some point they're gonna come. And there are different types of data centers. I don't know if you're aware of that. They are different types of data centers that do different things. I mean, there's lots of them around now. we're using probably something through a data center to make this happen. So AI can be good and AI can be bad. how I feel that municipalities need to get out in front. before the applications start to roll in and have some safeguards put into place before they start getting flooded with applications. How do you feel about this?
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah, it's funny. I'm just chuckling to myself 'cause my fourteen year old, it's his favorite topic right now is data centers, which I just
Christine Cooper: really?
Jamie-Lee Ball: yeah, I just think it's hilarious that it's his fa like so
Christine Cooper: Well listen, you know what? When we drop the next pod with the data center interview, I'll send you the link you can listen in because this guy is leading the way on it. So it's a really interesting discussion.
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yeah, perfect. He will love that. So I appreciate that. But yeah, data centers are an interesting point because we don't know enough about them. And I think that's been my I think a lot of the things I'm gonna segue off here for a minute is that I have voted no to a few things this term because when you wanna make an informed choice, there isn't a long term no and facts about anything. Like you you look at it like the microtransit situation. I think I was the only one out of both councils that voted no for it. And I and it's because I talk to other municipalities and I I ask the questions long based on a long term and not when we're getting reports and when we have the information in front of us, we're looking at it from a first few years perspective. And that's just the way that the processes have been working because especially with data centers, there isn't that long term data that we have access to. So we can't make a choice that's as informed as it should be for the future, which I don't like. So I don't want to make choices that I don't know the impact in 25 years because that's what we need to focus on. So I think it's good like we're a smaller municipality and other larger municipalities will lead the way before us and they will have that data. And I think it's important that when As a counselor, you are responsible for your own community, but you're responsible of making that informed choice based off of the research that's out there, not just in your municipality, but around you. So, what is the impact of data centers? What have our other municipalities looked at and seen? So there is a case for them because we have all
Christine Cooper: Right, absolutely.
Jamie-Lee Ball: we've all witnessed the municipalities being blackmailed and having their IT taken over and Obviously we've put a lot of safeguards and money into IT to protect ourselves, but when you're doing things like recording meetings and you're looking at such sensitive information, like you want to ensure the data is going somewhere where you can be protected. So I
Christine Cooper: It's safe, right? Right.
Jamie-Lee Ball: understand the push for having them inside Canada. but there has been a lot of they they use a lot of energy, they use a lot of water, yep.
Christine Cooper: And water and they make a lot of noise.
Jamie-Lee Ball: And they don't offer as many jobs as they want to tell you they do. So
Christine Cooper: No, not at all. They're just time is running out. I'm coming down to a few minutes now. So I'm gonna do some rapid questions to you. And I want a
Jamie-Lee Ball: Sure. Okay.
Christine Cooper: yay or a nay or a yes or a no or absolutely not. Okay.
Jamie-Lee Ball: Okay.
Christine Cooper: term limits, sunset clauses, yay or nay. Yay or nay.
Jamie-Lee Ball: I'd say yes.
Christine Cooper: Okay, thank you. Should the deputy mayor seat be eliminated by this incoming council, reducing the council by one sitting council member? Yay or nay.
Jamie-Lee Ball: Nay
Christine Cooper: Speed cameras that Ford canceled, do you support having them in the community? Yes or no?
Jamie-Lee Ball: Yay and nay. I have a
Christine Cooper: Okay.
Jamie-Lee Ball: Talk to me about them later.
Christine Cooper: yeah, we'll we'll talk about it another time. Do you have a library card? Okay, thank you. By laws for kick scooters. Okay. This is a this is a driving around little community on every gadget you can imagine. Kick scooters are turning out to be the little vehicles from hell. do council does council need to address bylaws specifically around these types of motorized vehicles? Yay or nay. Thank you. And I think I just asked you about AI centers. And we heard a lot of silly talk online about the Midland Butter Tart Festival. Should its location in downtown Midland be changed Yay or nay. Okay,
Jamie-Lee Ball: Night, ne.
Christine Cooper: thank you. we're coming down to home stretch. We've got a couple minutes left. So Jamie Lee, tell us why we should re-elect you?
Jamie-Lee Ball: Absolutely. So I think that if you've been watching, I think I've prob you probably know that if you want an answer, I'm going to get it for you. I'm informed. I think we just discussed that. I like to be informed from all levels. And I also think that I care. I if you get a hold of me, I'm going to find an answer for you. I'm going to do everything I can to fix that problem. And if I can't, you're going to know exactly why. and exactly h what path forward you need to take and I will collaborate with you for that. So I think I'm big on collaboration. I'm big on being involved and I I am d I am accessible and I think that I say what I I mean and I listen to what people are are telling me. So I think if
Christine Cooper: Thank you.
Jamie-Lee Ball: if you've seen it, you know, but I hope that you can continue and get a hold of me. And if you have any questions, then I am here. So and I will answer.
Christine Cooper: Thank you so much. Jamie Lee, thank you for your time. I wish you the best of luck in your reelection run. all the best to you. Thank you for joining
Jamie-Lee Ball: Thank you so much.
Christine Cooper: us. You've been listening to Conversations with the Candidates, Midland Votes 2026, hosted by myself, Christine Cooper. And we'll catch you on the flip side.
