✅ Norm Sandberg | Getting More Out of What We Already Have: Why I’m Running for Mayor of Collingwood
My name is Norm Sandberg, and I’m running for Mayor of Collingwood in the 2026 Municipal Election.
Many of you already know me. I served four terms on Collingwood Council. I’ve been President of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and Chair of Ontario Small Urban Municipalities. For more than 30 years, as a Certified Engineering Technologist, I’ve helped towns like ours plan and build their roads, water and wastewater systems. Just this month I was on site for the commissioning of a new elevated water storage tank in central Ontario, a project that came in on budget and ahead of schedule.
That’s the experience I want to put to work for you. Over the past few weeks I’ve been sharing some ideas about how I think Collingwood should plan for the future, and I’d like to bring them together here.
Collingwood isn’t a big city, and that’s okay
You may have heard me say this before: Collingwood isn’t a big city. We can’t buy our way out of every problem. What we can do is get more out of what we already have.
The Town owns a surface parking lot at 140 Ste. Marie Street, right behind the Eddie Bush Arena. It has 87 parking spaces, and for decades that’s all it has done. My team and I developed a concept that puts tiered parking at the back and storefronts and apartments facing the street. The lot goes from 87 spaces to 196, with 181 of them public. That’s 94 more public spaces than we have today, plus five commercial spaces and 30 rental apartments, most of them for the people who work downtown.
The municipal lot at Second and Pine Street has even more potential. It has 94 spaces today. In our concept it has 232, including 211 public spaces, which is 117 more than now. It also has 42 rental apartments, storefronts on both streets, and the Town’s bus depot rebuilt right into the new building. One lot doing four jobs instead of one.
On both sites, the Town keeps the land and the parking. A private partner would build and run the apartments, so the Town doesn’t become a landlord. And I want to be clear: these are concepts, not approved projects. They need independent review and, most importantly, public input before anyone decides anything. No grant gets counted until it’s secured. But the work has gone far enough to show real promise, and I think Collingwood deserves a close look.
Being straight with you about the numbers
Collingwood now has its first long-term financial plan, looking ahead to 2035. I’m glad we have it, because it’s exactly what the next Council needs to build on. There are three numbers in it that I think every taxpayer should know:
– $1.76 billion. That’s the capital spending the plan models over the next ten years. Just over $1 billion of it is for water and wastewater.
– 4.8 percent. That’s the average property tax increase the plan shows every year from 2027 to 2035. It doesn’t include water and sewer bills, which are forecast separately.
– 2030. Under today’s assumptions, that’s the year the Town’s debt payments go past the limit the Province sets for municipal borrowing.
This is a baseline, not an approved spending plan. But it shows the pressure we’re under, and it means the next Council will face some hard choices. What must we do? What can we afford? What growth and partnerships should help pay for it? And what has to wait? Answering those questions well is the kind of work I’ve done for my whole career.
How I’ll lead
I believe good decisions come from listening and building consensus around the Council table, not from going it alone. I’d rather show you a drawing and ask for your feedback than promise another study. Everything I’ve described here, including both concepts and my full plans for finances, water, housing, transportation and more, is at norm4mayor.ca. Take a look and tell me what you think. I really do want to hear from you.
Please vote
Whoever you support, please vote. Local elections decide the things you notice every day: your roads, your water, your taxes, your downtown. Too often, only a small share of us turn out to make those choices.
Voting in Collingwood is easy this year:
– Internet voting opens Thursday, October 8 at 10 a.m. and runs until October 26 at 8 p.m. Your Voter Information Letter, arriving the week of October 5, includes your voting credentials.
– Advance paper-ballot voting is at the Collingwood Public Library on October 15 and October 22 (4 to 8 p.m.) and Sunday, October 25 (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.).
– Election Day is Monday, October 26, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., online or in person.
Experience matters. Results matter. Collingwood deserves both.
Thank you,
Norm Sandberg
Candidate for Mayor, Town of Collingwood
Authorized by the CFO for the Norman Sandberg Campaign
❤️ Thanks, Norm, for your donation to Hope Chapel.
