{"id":7671,"date":"2024-08-07T20:26:38","date_gmt":"2024-08-07T23:26:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/?p=7671"},"modified":"2024-08-07T20:28:03","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T23:28:03","slug":"thanks-to-the-people-of-queens-darlene-norman-wont-reoffer-as-mayor-of-region-of-queens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/2024\/08\/07\/thanks-to-the-people-of-queens-darlene-norman-wont-reoffer-as-mayor-of-region-of-queens\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Thanks to the people of Queens’: Darlene Norman won’t reoffer as mayor of Region of Queens"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A

Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman will not be seeking another term in the October municipal election. (Rick Conrad)<\/p><\/div>\n

Darlene Norman has made it official, announcing she won\u2019t seek re-election as mayor of the Region of Queens.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have decided not to reoffer simply because these last four years have made me realize that it was one thing to be a councillor, it\u2019s another thing to be the mayor,” she said in an interview Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

“When you are a councillor and you vote in a certain way at a meeting and the vote didn\u2019t go your way, then it\u2019s over and done. When you are the mayor and you vote at a council meeting for something that you feel is very important and you lose the vote, … as the mayor you still have to speak on behalf of council for the vote. And I am the type of personality that finds it very difficult to speak favorably about an issue that I think is so wrong.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Norman’s decision to serve one term as mayor caps a 20-year career in municipal politics, which began in 2000 when she was elected councillor in District 1, which covers the area of Hunts Point, White Point, Port Mouton and Port Joli.<\/span><\/p>\n

She served as councillor for the area until 2016 when she was defeated by current councillor Kevin Muise.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2020, she decided to run for mayor, beating incumbent David Dagley and two other challengers – Susan MacLeod and Brian Fralic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Norman said she enjoyed her time as mayor.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I really liked being the mayor, I liked helping people, I liked meeting people. But I just have a very difficult time when I have to as mayor speak on behalf of council and it\u2019s a decision of which I disagreed. Other than that, being the mayor was wonderful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In a Facebook post on Tuesday<\/a> announcing her decision, she said council has achieved many good things over the past four years. But she said there were other things she regrets.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of those was not building a new library. The Thomas H. Raddall Library has to leave its leased premises in downtown Liverpool by the end of December. After many stops and starts, council couldn\u2019t agree on a new permanent location, so they decided to put it, at least temporarily, in the Liverpool Business Development Centre on White Point Road.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe could have built a lovely library, it would have been open by now. For one reason or another, things went sideways. Council couldn’t agree on a location.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Another frustration for Norman over the past four years is the concentration of municipal resources in the Liverpool, Brooklyn and Milton areas. She says council needs to find a way to improve services in other areas of Queens County, such as north Queens and areas outside the so-called urban core of Liverpool.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur biggest assessment areas are in rural Queens. … I look around at north Queens, east and west, people are paying incredible tax dollars in those parts of the county, despite people in the town of Liverpool who think they\u2019re paying the biggest tax dollars. I\u2019m just finding it really difficult with the Region of Queens and trying to find a balance with specnding in rural as well as central.”<\/span><\/p>\n

She said building new accessible washroom and change room facilities at Beach Meadows Beach was council’s way to try to spread some municipal dollars outside the Liverpool-Brooklyn-Milton core.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She said it\u2019s one of council\u2019s accomplishments that she\u2019s proud of. Others include improvements in accessibility at other municipally owned facilities such as the Astor Theatre; working with a wind farm developer in Milton<\/a> to create more renewable energy; advocating for new cell towers in north Queens<\/a> and supporting affordable housing initiatives<\/a> by Queens Neighbourhood Co-operative Housing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThose are good things, those are really positive things for Queens. … T<\/span>here have been so many more benefits than disappointments.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And even though the region still struggles with staffing shortages, she said she\u2019s very proud of what municipal employees have been able to accomplish. She said the region has only two building inspectors and one planner, at a time when development is on the rise. And she said their bylaw enforcement division is also understaffed, while complaints increase.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are so quick to criticize the staff of the Region of Queens and I really wish that perhaps people like that could be the mayor for a week or a month and actually sit in my chair and get a good understanding of how much work they do, because our staff work hard.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Norman said another reason she won\u2019t be reoffering in October\u2019s municipal election is the abuse she said she\u2019s received on social media.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe cruel, the unkind, the unjust things that are said. And all people have to do is pick up a phone and they\u2019ll know that all those rumours aren\u2019t true. I tend to bite my tongue and … almost cut off my fingers not to write back some things on some posts that I\u2019ve read. But it\u2019s just not what I was prepared for.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I just don\u2019t want it anymore. I\u2019m a really good sleeper and when I don\u2019t sleep at night because of stuff at council or things going on, I have too many people my age dropping dead and I want to do positive things that have positive results and are not attached with any negativism.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She says she\u2019s not sure what she\u2019ll do after October. But it will include spending more time with her young grandson in Shelburne. And she plans to volunteer in her community of Port Medway and work on some of her art projects.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll find something to do. … I\u2019m interested in helping my community of Port Medway. … I\u2019m artistic, I might just discover who I am again. <\/span>But I want to get out and do something that I want to do that doesn\u2019t have the stressors that being the mayor does.\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Regardless of some of that stress, she says she\u2019s grateful for the opportunity to be mayor of the Region of Queens for the past four years.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI’d just like to thank the people of Queens for poviding me this wonderful privilege to represent Queens County,” she says. “And it is a privilege. We are a wonderful county, we have some of the best people in the world. And we are very attractive to people around the world who want to live here. So let\u2019s welcome newcomers, regardless of what country or what culture they are. Diversity is wonderful for us. It makes us stronger. Thanks to the people of Queens.<\/span><\/p>\n

“And I\u2019m here for a couple of more months if there\u2019s anything anybody needs any help with.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The municipal election is set for Oct. 19. Former teacher Terry Doucette and business consultant Scott Christian have already announced their campaigns for mayor. People have until Sept. 10 to file their nomination papers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For the first time, voters in Queens will be able to make their choices by traditional ballot or by phone or online.<\/span><\/p>\n

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/normannotrunningaug724.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Darlene Norman has made it official, announcing she won\u2019t seek re-election as mayor of the Region of Queens. \u201cI have decided not to reoffer simply because these last four years have made me realize that it was one thing to be a councillor, it\u2019s another thing to be the mayor,” she said in an interview […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,5],"tags":[2488,2544,79,23,316,2442,27,2506,49,24,226,289,2441],"class_list":["post-7671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-news","category-news-posts","tag-2024-municipal-election","tag-brian-fralic","tag-darlene-norman","tag-david-dagley","tag-election","tag-mayor","tag-municipal-election","tag-municipal-politics","tag-queens-county","tag-region-of-queens","tag-scott-christian","tag-susan-macleod","tag-terry-doucette"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7671"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7675,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7671\/revisions\/7675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}