A life of public service recognized

1. Jim Harrison has been a father, a farmer, a teacher, a principal and for the past 36 years a member of
   municipal council, first in Murray Township and last in Quinte West.

And for the first time in almost 4 decades his name wasn’t on the ballot Monday.

Harrison is retiring after a long and stellar career which was recognized at a reception at Quinte West
City Hall Wednesday afternoon.

Greetings came from the Premier of Ontario Doug Ford, MP Chris Malette, and MPP Tyler Allsopp.

Remarks were made by city staff and by neighboring Mayors.

Mayor of Belleville Neil Ellis recalled Harrison calling him at 6 or 7 in the morning to advocate for Quinte West
when he was a Liberal Member of Parliament.

“Sometimes he’d yell at me about some federal business.  He usually called back in about an hour and was a lot
nicer.  Jane (Jim’s wife) told him to!”

Ellis added that whether as an MP or as Mayor Harrison was always good to work with and “if I had a bad day Jim
would always call me to offer some help or advice”.

Harrison was presented with a large plaque, the “Heart of the City” by Ellis, on behalf of the City of Belleville.

Mayor of Prince Edward County Steve Ferguson commented on Harrison’s “remarkable years of service”.

“Being a municipal politician is a rewarding job but it’s also tough and very demanding of your time.  Someone
who served his community for decades deserves our admiration.  Jim has been a great advocate for Quinte West
and the respect he receives is well- deserved.  We’ve all hear how important it is to “give back” but Jim has given
enough!  Many Mayors leave office but Jim is leaving having left a real imprint on the community.”

Brian Ostrander, Mayor of Brighton, drew chuckles as he described himself and Jim as being “school buddies-I was
in Grade 7 and Jim was the principal at Brighton Public.”

Ostrander, pointing at Harrison, said “this is the very embodiment of public service!  Jim’s been a teacher, principal,
and councillor.  You are an example and one that I endeavour to follow every day!”

All of the speakers noted how hard Harrison worked and how much he genuinely cared about his community and
its residents.  If it mattered in Quinte West Harrison and his beloved wife Jim would be there.

Reception Emcee and Quinte West Fire Chief John Whalen said he’d had health and other problems over the past 4 years and
“without fail Jim would call me every day to offer his help and his support”.

Representatives from the OPP and fire department also said Harrison was there for them, not only advocating for good
equipment to keep employees safe, but offering support when officers were dealing with difficult situations or after
firefighters had worked a serious fire.

Dave Allen, CEO of the YMCA of Central-East Ontario, said he’d met Harrison in 2005 and the pair had started
chatting about building a “Y” in Quinte West.

“Jim gets thing done.  The “Y” was built in 2009 and he’s always been a big supporter of ours.”

Allan presented Harrison with a hat and a couple of  YMCA toques.  He also presented a colorful gym bag,
half-joking that he wanted it back “filled with Jane’s delicious pickles and other preserves!”

Harrison is well-known for gifting his wife’s farmhouse preserves at special events throughout the area.

For his part, the Mayor-elect of Quinte West Zack Card said he’d learned first hand going door-to-door
for the election that “the respect and admiration for Mayor Harrison runs deep in the community”.

“I’ve only known him a short while but I’ve already learned a lot from him.  I’ll have his number on speed-dial for
sure.  It will be impossible to fill those shoes!”

Harrison ended the formal part of the reception with very brief remarks.  “Over the years I’ve worked with a lot
of really good people.  They do their jobs and do them well and they make the Mayor’s job a lot easier. So thank you
all very much, and Jane thanks you.  And I guess you all know that Jane’s the real boss, so nothing’s changed.  Thank you.”

Retiring Quinte West councillor from Murray Ward Jim Alyea has been on council with Harrison since 1991.

Alyea told Quinte News that Harrison has been a “good friend, a common-sense person as you’ve heard many times
here.  You couldn’t ask for a better colleague.  He would talk to me, I would talk to him and we both tried our best for our community.

“I know he’ll miss this (public service) and I will too with 34 years in but there’s not enough words to add to thank him for
his dedication and service.  I don’t think the guy rests, he goes 7 days a week 365.  Jim and Jane have been great
ambassadors for the city and it’s been a pleasure working with him.”

This scribbler has known Jim Harrison for all of his 36 years on council and I can only echo the many others in
my admiration of him for what he’s done and most of all for how he’s done it.

He has been available (at all hours), honest, good-humoured and unfailingly kind.

He will be missed.