Kingsville Mayor Nelson Santos was first elected to Municipal Council in 1997 where he served two terms as a Councillor before becoming Kingsville’s first Deputy Mayor to be elected at large following the municipal amalgamations of Kingsville with the former Townships of Gosfield North and Gosfield South.
Nelson Santos was elected Mayor of Kingsville in 2003 and is now serving his fifth term as the Chief Executive Officer for the municipality. In his 24 years of municipal office, Mayor Santos was elected by Essex County Council to serve as Deputy Warden (2018-Present) and previously (2003-2006). Mayor Santos also served as Essex County Warden (2006-2010).
In representing the interests of his community and region of Windsor-Essex County, Mr. Santos has held portfolios involving regional economic development, physician recruitment, poverty reduction, heritage preservation, tourism, county library service, policing, emergency planning and communications and others
Prior to entering politics, Mayor Santos worked on his grandfather’s family farm for several years. He served as a journalist and editor for 29 years for community newspapers and retired as an active Realtor after 10 years. Today, his active lifestyle keeps him wearing many hats as a photographer and continues to work as a Real Estate Assistant with his wife Stephanie. Together, they are parents to three children Emelia (13) and twins Jaxson and Madelyn (6).
Teaser
Tune in Thursday night at 7pm for the full conversation
The first half of the show is standardized (more or less) with each guest talking through these themes.
- The first part begins with you, as we introduce you as the guest. Who are you? What is your day job (if not a full time politician)? How do you engage the community? Why did you run for council? What drives you?
- Who are your people? If you represent a ward/whole community what does it look like (urban, suburban, rural)? Who are your constituents – what do they do for a living, what are the issues you see in your inbox or talking to people week in and out.
- Describe your municipality as a whole. Paint a picture for someone who has not been to your town or community before or has only seen it as a sign on the side of a road. What is working, and what is not, what are you building towards? .
- What is your region, what is in common/different between your community and your neighbours? Most municipalities are a part of some upper tier government, how does your community fit into that upper tier?
- Finally, how does your community and constituents fit into SW Ontario as a whole? Why should someone in Kitchener or London (as examples) care about your community? What should a Torontonian know about your community and why it is important?
The second half of the show is a bit more political/policy related. We may not get to all of these topics and this might not be the order we discuss them in.
- COVID Impacts on Kingsville? How did it impact the municipality and community?
- Migrant workers and the outbreaks in those facilities
- If COVID didn’t happen what would we be talking about?
- Agri-sector is a major employers and driver of local economic activity but there are challenges – Light pollution by-law
- A reliable electricity supply – power flickering etc. ELK Power Issues.
- HWY3 widening is moving forward and going to impact Kingsville.
- Won’t a widened highway make it easier for people to commute to Windsor for employment thus negatively impacting climate?
- Magic policy wand – change one thing to improve your community, the lives of people in it, what do you change and why?
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