I was honoured to be interviewed by Julie for the Orono Weekly Times, and I have to say, rarely has an interviewer captured the meaning of a conversation as thoughtfully as she did.
There is one thing my wife reminded me afterward that I forgot to mention: I genuinely care.
Over the past few months, I’ve had the privilege of meeting so many residents. More than once, people have told me, “You can tell that you care.” Those words mean more to me than they probably realize.
If I have the opportunity to serve as Councillor, this won’t be a part-time commitment. As a retired person, I will have the time and the energy to dedicate myself fully to the residents of Bowmanville — listening, working and following through.
Baden-Powell’s philosophy that we should be builders, not just talkers really resonates with me. I believe in rolling up our sleeves, bringing people together and turning ideas into action.
Clarington has tremendous potential. My goal is to help us realize that potential while protecting the character, history and small-town spirit that make Bowmanville such a special place to call home.
I care about this community. I care about the people who live here. And I’m excited about what we can build together.

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Sanchez puts management experience at centre of Ward 2 campaign
By Julie Cashin-Oster
Editor/Publisher Orono Weekly Times

Bernard Sanchez believes Clarington can better manage growth, infrastructure and municipal spending — and says his decades of experience in business, technology and project management give him the skills to help do it.
Sanchez is seeking the position of Local Councillor in Ward 2 in the October municipal election. His professional background includes IBM, his own technology and consulting businesses and a senior executive role with global software company SAP.
During his career, Sanchez says he managed budgets exceeding $200 million, oversaw large teams and complex infrastructure projects, and negotiated major contracts and international business deals.
Now retired, he says he is prepared to devote the majority of his time to Clarington.
“I will devote 95 per cent of my time to Clarington,” Sanchez said. “I know how a town works. I teach municipalities how to improve things.”
That management background runs through much of Sanchez’s campaign.
Whether discussing traffic, housing, infrastructure or municipal finances, he repeatedly returns to the same approach: gather information, understand the problem, establish priorities, make a decision and hold people accountable for the outcome.
Sanchez believes council has not always provided enough oversight of major projects and has relied too heavily on staff recommendations without doing enough independent analysis.
“I believe that the management of some projects, financial management, planning projects, has not been done with the proper checks and balances,” he said.
Staff may be doing good work, Sanchez said, but elected officials still have a responsibility to question recommendations, examine alternatives and provide direction.
“It’s council’s job to find out before they happen,” he said of potential project problems. “Council should, for every request, analyze it. They should talk to staff and they should direct staff.”
Sanchez points specifically to the municipal recreation project on Baseline Road. He argues the project’s increased cost cannot be explained by inflation alone and says it should prompt questions about how the project was planned, forecast and budgeted.
He also questions whether council has sufficiently examined the need and cost associated with senior management positions. For Sanchez, those questions are part of a larger concern about affordability.
“If I’m elected, I want to sit down with the CFO, and I want to understand where do we spend our money.”
With Clarington facing a significant infrastructure funding gap, Sanchez says council needs a more disciplined way of determining which projects proceed.
He proposes categorizing projects according to whether they are required and urgent, and combining that assessment with a management model that identifies who is responsible, accountable, consulted and informed.
“We have to be extremely cautious about how we treat budget,” Sanchez said. “We have to be able to make the hard decisions. We have to operate within our means.”
At the same time, Sanchez believes Clarington needs to grow its commercial and industrial tax base to reduce pressure on residential taxpayers.
“We need to entice people to come here,” he said.
He believes attracting larger employers would expand the tax base while creating more local employment and economic activity. Sanchez also sees an opportunity to work with major employers already operating in the community, including OPG and Elexicon.
His management approach also shapes his views on infrastructure and traffic.
Sanchez says council should resist jumping immediately to solutions such as additional traffic lights without first understanding traffic patterns.
He wants Clarington to make greater use of data and technology to understand congestion and speeding.
“If we don’t analyze, if we don’t have the data, how could we improve things?”
Rather than relying entirely on perceptions of where speeding occurs, Sanchez argues the municipality should collect data, determine whether a problem exists and then decide whether enforcement or engineering changes are required.
“Once we understand, we could act,” he said.
He also believes maintaining existing infrastructure must be given as much attention as building new infrastructure.
“We have to fix as well as we have to build,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez says he has heard from local business owners and developers frustrated by lengthy municipal processes and believes unnecessary red tape should be eliminated.
But faster approvals, he said, should not mean weaker oversight.
“We have to alleviate the red tape. We also have to have the checks and balances.”
Sanchez also believes developers should be held to their commitments involving roads, parks and other infrastructure associated with new neighbourhoods.
On density, he supports building upward rather than continuing unlimited outward expansion, but says there should be limits.
He does not support 15- or 20-storey towers in downtown Bowmanville and suggested buildings of approximately eight storeys are more compatible with the community.
“When you go beyond 10, you start to be downtown Toronto,” he said.
Sanchez says many residents he meets while canvassing want growth managed without losing Bowmanville’s small-town character.
“What I hear is that they want us to understand that small-town feeling among the tremendous growth that we are experiencing,” he said.
He also sees a need for a broader range of housing, including social, affordable and senior housing.
For seniors, Sanchez argues housing should be planned alongside services rather than simply providing units in isolation.
“The worst thing that could happen to an elder that is alone, is to be alone,” he said.
He would like to see senior housing located near health care and other supports and believes partnerships with businesses and other organizations could help fund community amenities and services.
Sanchez points to his time with the Rotary Club of Bowmanville as an example of that approach.
As fundraising chair, he says he helped develop new events and sponsorship packages intended to bring businesses into community initiatives. He describes himself as a “change agent” who analyzes what is working, develops a plan and adjusts when necessary.
That philosophy would also guide his approach to public consultation.
Sanchez has been holding online question-and-answer sessions during the campaign and says he intends to continue regular communication with residents if elected. But he says digital engagement alone is not enough.
Door-to-door conversations, telephone calls and face-to-face meetings remain necessary, particularly for residents who do not regularly use social media.
Sanchez also believes residents deserve to understand the reasoning behind council decisions once they become public. A mentor once told him not simply to communicate, but to “over-communicate.”
“Tell them where they are. Tell them what you need. Let them talk. Listen to them,” Sanchez recalled.
Asked why Ward 2 residents should choose him, Sanchez returned to his professional experience.
He says he has both the technical knowledge and practical experience of managing budgets, projects and contracts and believes those skills would benefit council.
“Some people say that I may be overqualified,” he said. “Hell, I’m a bargain.”
Sanchez has adopted “No BS from B.S.” as his campaign slogan — a phrase he says reflects his commitment to being straightforward with residents.
He says voters should not simply trust his promises, but hold him accountable for them.
“If I lie to them, in any shape or form, tell me,” Sanchez said. “And never hire me again.”
For Sanchez, the choice facing Ward 2 voters comes down to whether his private-sector management experience can translate into municipal government.
He believes it can.
His campaign is built around the argument that Clarington’s rapid growth will require more than simply spending additional money or building additional infrastructure. It will require council to ask harder questions about priorities, demand greater accountability, use better information to make decisions and explain those decisions to the people paying the bills.

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