“Maybe we don’t listen enough, and I’d like to think I can change that,” said David Evans, a long-time resident of Balm Beach who has become the first to enter the candidate race for mayor of Tiny Township, in the 2022 municipal election on October 24.
Evans was speaking about the good things involved with Tiny Township, from its diverse residents to its responsive staff.
Once a general manager of Stanley Hardware who ran a $100-million sales division across Canada, Evans later became an Upper C Level manager for Stanley Black & Decker. Currently, Evans works as the sales and marketing manager for Virginia-based Melnor Inc. in a remote position for the lawn and garden watering supply company.
Evans was born in Willowdale and graduated from the University of Toronto with a bachelor of science degree in forest engineering, before climbing the corporate ladder to where he is today.
Generations of his family had a history in Tiny Township, and once his two children had entered post-secondary education, Evans took the opportunity to purchase the Balm Beach family property in 2013 and has lived there full-time since.
“I really enjoy the lifestyle in Tiny,” Evans shared. “I’m an outdoor person; I like to be on the beach every day with my dog, Marley, throughout the year if I can.”
Evans had volunteered for the property standards and fence viewing committee, and is currently on the police services board since 2018. These merits compelled him to apply for the vacated position of Tiny councillor last year, which resulted in a lost coin flip to current councillor John Bryant.
“I thought about it for a month or two, and realized: ‘It doesn’t in any way negate how you felt, or take away the reasons you wanted to do it in the first place. If anything, it just makes you stronger and more determined to do what you planned out to do in the first place.’”
Evans’ love of Tiny beaches aligns with various beach associations who aim to keep boathouses and docks off the shallow waters.
“Houses might change, people might change, and even neighbourhoods might change, but the beach has to stay the same,” said Evans.
“The use of adverse possession to gain control of land not legally owned covers a lot of cases of what’s going on in Tiny; people trying to maintain that they own property that they do not, in fact, own.” He added that part of Tiny’s strategic plan includes purchasing beachfront property to enhance public beach access and usage, which he aims to continue.
“I want my grandchildren to see the beaches of Tiny the same way my grandparents did.”
Short-term-rental accommodations is another issue Evans feels strongly about, stating: “I am against the use of multi-unit absentee landlords who operate a business under the guise of a single cottage rental.”
Other key issues Evans that made up part of his platform include: affordable housing for a majority of residents who live within short distance of the 70-kilometre shoreline; forecasted infrastructure needs of water, sewer, and internet for those future residents; and support and staffing of Tiny Township first responders.
Additionally, Evans claimed support for a water study to identify the effect of aggregate washing at township locations like the Teedon Pit, which is situated above the Alliston Aquifer that experts claim is cleaner than ancient Arctic ice.
“Any potentially negative impact on our drinking water is something I take very, very seriously,” Evans affirmed, adding that Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop would be a person he could both work with and have meaningful dialogue.
“Working with the province is certainly integral to Teedon; the pits may be in the municipality but the permit for operation is issued by the province.”
Even though Evans has passion and participation within Tiny Township, his claim is that it is the people who will ultimately be the ones deciding what is best for the community, and his difficult challenge will be to make choices that benefit the most people, and hear everyone even if they can’t be accommodated.
“I want to listen to what their concerns are; I want to hear their voice.
“My agenda is the people of Tiny’s agenda. What do the people of Tiny want to do?” Evans asked. “Well, I’m going to be listening. I want to go out and interpret what they want to do, and make it better for all people if I can.”
Information on the Tiny municipal election can be found on the Tiny Township website.
