By Anne Finlay-Stewart

In 2010 Marion Koepke packed up her desk and left her job as Owen Sound City Clerk to join her husband in retirement. This year Koepke will be returning to city hall with a seat on the council.

There is no doubt she knows what she is getting into. Over 26 years in several positions at the city Koepke worked with dozens of elected officials, and prepared thousands of pages of council agendas, and took minutes at the small desk below the council seats. She said in an interview that recently she could see that there was not a good feeling at city, and some councillors former and current encouraged her to bring her skills to the council table.

In spite of the community's mood for change, Koepke was not surprised to see Jim McManaman and Peter Lemon re-elected, seeing them both as working hard for their constituents and doing their homework. She had not expected to be one of only two women on council, along with deputy mayor Arlene Wright, but she is not concerned about the gender imbalance. "People are people – I don't see them as male or female," she said.

Like several of her newly-elected colleagues, Koepke believes that the first steps will be to build a team and to prioritize their issues. "We have heard what the public wants, now we have to look at the budget and conscientiously decide how to spend the tax money. We can't give it to everyone."

Her city experience has prepared her for the hard work Koepke knows is required, and she knows the limits and legislation that control the way councils can move their agenda ahead. Koepke could see that some of the unsuccessful candidates did not really understand municipal processes, but she knew that Richard Thomas and Travis Dodd had done their homework and "they deserved to be at the top".

The new eyes and new personalities in the Owen Sound council will help build bridges with our neighbours according to Koepke. "People come here daily for work and services and to spend money in our community, and we depend on them."

Koepke ran her campaign on "making our size and our beauty our business" and she would like to see the city revitalizing the harbourfront and downtown to take advantage of Owen Sound's unique shoreline. "We can bring boaters here who can tie up, get out and shop in our downtown. We can make ourselves a destination."

Owen Sound has been "a city" since the booming days of the 1920's, but Koepke wonders if that works to our advantage. "Are we giving people the wrong impression? Or expectations that are more appropriate for municipalities of 50 or 150 thousand population?" Our size – too big or too small – may work against us sometimes with funding sources, but Koepke believes it is an asset and a resource in itself. She hopes to help the city capitalize on it from her place at "the big table".

Anne Finlay-Stewart is Community Editor of Owensoundhub.org. She can be reached at [email protected].