Hoping to bring a younger and more sports-oriented perspective to Innisfil Council, Kevin Eckhardt will be running for the Ward 7 councillor seat this fall.
His decision to run was motivated by his desire to be the voice of the youth in the community and provide a champion for local sports programs at youth and adult levels.
“I’m pretty much here to bridge a gap between what people want to see in sports and provide a voice for members of my community,” he said. “I’ve followed the politics of Innisfil and one thing that really frustrated me were the bids and tenders that were coming out. I didn’t quite understand it, for example with the Knock Community Centre. The town had a plan they put together for sports organizations a while ago, but they didn’t reach out to any of the sporting associations over the last couple of years. They claim that COVID is the reason, but they were willing to spend vast amounts of money upgrading fields and services that didn’t really need the upgrade. Members of the community didn’t want Knock Community Centre to have $150,000 worth of upgrades, the reason for it being that only one group really benefits from using that diamond.”
Eckhardt’s passion for sports stems from his involvement, he’s currently the Executive Member with the Innisfil Minor Baseball Association as the Umpire in Chief and the Referee in Chief with the Lefroy Minor Hockey Association.
“I’m involved in youth and adult sports programs throughout the year,” he explained. “I focus on baseball in the summer and hockey in the winter. My emphasis is on creating an environment that’s fun and fair for everyone. I grew up in the community and played a lot of sports and I enjoyed it, and I thought it was time for me to give back. All those associations run on volunteers, so people need to step up and that’s why I’ve gotten involved. Without volunteers, sports programs don’t run.”
If elected, Eckhardt hopes to be the voice of sports and recreation in the community as he aims to ensure programs and facilities can flourish behind the support of the town.
“I want to make sure there’s adequate programs, fields, and facilities for youth and adult sports,” he said. “I want to make sure that taxpayers are getting value out of community projects. The Knock Community Centre project was an example of taxpayers not getting value for it. The money definitely could have been spent on sports-focused community projects but it could have been allocated in a much better way.”
With his finger on the pulse of what young adults are dealing with right now, Eckhardt also wants to highlight issues around affordability.
“More affordable living accommodations are important to our community,” he said. “I just think obviously with rent prices and house prices going through the roof, we need to address it.”
Growing up in Innisfil and spending 30 years in the community, Eckhardt wants to help it grow as a representative for Ward 7.
“It’s a fun and safe community to raise a family,” he said. “I want to make sure it remains an enjoyable spot for everyone to live in over the next 30 years.”
