RALPH MANKTELOW – WHO I AM
I have been living in Mono full-time for ten years, but my family and I have been spending time here since 1983, when my wife Marg and I first purchased our farm.
Immediately I recognized that the Mono hills and valleys, with their fields, forests, streams, and ponds, were very special. I felt that the natural spaces of Mono were worthy of our protection. This is one of the main reasons that I became a member of the Mono Research Advisory Committee and four years ago became a member of Mono Council.
I spent my early career living and working in Toronto, where I was a reconstructive surgeon. My interest was in hand surgery and the reconstruction of paralyzed faces. I developed the technique for the reattachment of amputated fingers and hands. I also created a technique to transplant muscles so that patients with muscle loss could move their hands and patients with paralyzed faces could smile again.
As a professor of surgery at the University of Toronto, I learned management skills. I was in charge of the U of T plastic surgery training program and managed the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery departments for the seven university hospitals.
I have greatly enjoyed the past four years on Council. This seat has taught me how municipal politics works, how to be effective, and how to make a significant impact in our community.
The skills and strengths that I bring to the Mono Council are:
– I am a good listener;
– I am a strong communicator; and
– I have years of experience at solving problems and working with people.
We have been able to accomplish much during the last term of Council. I have played a major part in the following successes:
– Improving the Town’s engagement with our citizens
– Stopping an environmentally damaging aggregate pit from mining below the water table
– Settling a major noise concern related to bird-control cannons at a winery
– Keeping our annual budget increases in pace with in the cost of living (CPI)
– Creating Mono’s Pollinator Garden and getting a Bee City designation for the town
– Taking a strong position against a proposed aggregate pit for north Mono
– Preventing a potentially environmentally damaging major fill project
– Initiating a walking/bike trail project for southern Mono
My goals for the next term of council:
– to provide good governance,
– to protect our natural spaces,
– to continue to introduce new projects to improve our community,
– to limit our tax increase to the CPI.
– to obtain High speed internet for all of Mono
– to have the Violet Hill aggregate application defeated
Phone: (519) 217-6362