The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

w at er lo oc hr on ic le .c a W at er lo o C hr on ic le | T hu rs da y, Ju ne 21 ,2 01 8 | 6 CAMBRIDGE 90 Main Street cornerstonefurniture.ca 519.740.9991 /CornerstoneHome /cornerstonehomeinteriors Cornerstone has offered premium sofa brands Rowe and Robin Bruce for many years, and they continue to be favourites of our customers. Enjoy savings up to 35% all floor models! CORNERSTONE'S SUMMER SOFA SALE All in-stock Robin Bruce and Rowe models reduced to clear Save up to 35% 25 years in business There's a saying: "A ris- ing tide can lift all boats." But as Rob Deutschmann points out, many people in Waterloo Region are still without a boat. Not everyone's cut out for tech, he said. "What we need now - and this is not a criticism - but what we need now is a re- gional chair that's going to step up with respect to eco- nomic development and be that collective voice for the region." Deutschmann, 55, a per- sonal injury lawyer of more than 20 years based out of Kitchener and former may- or of North Dumfries Town- ship, said he's currently pon- dering the possibility of run- ning for regional chair in the municipal election this fall and sees an opportunity for "significant change" with current chair Ken Seiling's decision to step down at the end of this council term. "Ken's legacy to me is that he was able to keep the re- gion together, bring every- body under the regional um- brella and advance this com- munity in a fairly harmoni- ous way," Deutschmann said. "Sure, there's been is- sues along the way, but he's done a great job bringing ev- eryone together under one roof." Now it's time to start communicating better and working together more, he said. "We have a great opportu- nity to collaborate, but we need someone who's willing to take on that role. What I'm finding from my discussions is there's a bit of disconnect." Deutschmann said a re- cent discrepancy over the development of STEAM (sci- ence, technology, engineer- ing, arts and math) pro- gramming for youth in the K-W community is a classic example. "You've got Hip Develop- ment wanting to do a great thing. You've got Themu- seum wanting to do a great thing. You've got the donor class wanting to do a great thing, and yet it seems as there's no one discussion go- ing on." Deutschmann believes efforts to pursue STEAM initiatives will be vital for the Waterloo Region com- munity moving forward and that economic development doesn't always entail govern- ment cutting a cheque, but rather bringing minds to- gether. In recent weeks Deutsch- mann said he's been meeting with various stakeholders including social service pro- viders, developers, builders, community activists and chambers of commerce rep- resentatives as part of what he calls an "exploratory phase." "The region is booming, there's no doubt about it," he said. "To me, it's bringing the different agencies and busi- ness leaders together and saying here are the issues - we're not doing everything well - and what are we going to do to resolve them? "Look at affordable hous- ing for example. Why can't we use the builders and de- velopers to assist us with ramping up the supply?" With $3 billion in region- al development permits in the pipeline, primarily along the new light rail transit cor- ridor, preventing gentrifica- tion from occurring in the Kitchener and Waterloo cores is paramount, noted Deutschmann, who laments the loss of traditional manu- facturing and a lack of shov- el-ready employment lands. After becoming mayor in 2010, he said the Germany- based frozen pizza maker Dr. Oetker was eyeing the area and knocking on seven dif- ferent doors. The company eventually opted to expand elsewhere. "We lost Schneiders," he said. "That's one of the things we have to work on - not only bringing in new, but we have to satisfy existing with room to grow." A regional economic de- velopment corporation has provided a more stream- lined approach to business outreach in recent years and collaboration with Cam- bridge and surrounding townships has drastically improved. "But those discus- sions must continue," Deutschmann said. He believes his experi- ence on regional council and as mayor of rural township, most of which lies on the south side of Highway 401, would make him a prime candidate. Deutschmann grew up in Waterloo and studied busi- ness at Laurier, started his law firm in Kitchener and got involved with a local community group building the case for a community centre after moving to North Dumfries. He went on to chair the fundraising com- mittee that raised $2 million toward the $16-million pro- ject, later deciding to run for mayor because he felt the township was lagging be- hind. He learned was how much a person can do at the grassroots level to impact a community. "We need to bring people into the fold and look at how we can do things differently and understand dynamics with respect to Cambridge and the townships and bringing everyone togeth- er," he said. "I understand all aspects of the region." And by taking four years to step away from local poli- tics - Deutschmann chose not to seek re-election as North Dumfries' mayor in 2014 - he said he'd be coming in with fresh point of view. "Sometimes it takes fresh eyes from outside the cur- rent political diaspora to say, 'Why aren't we doing it that way?'" "Stepping away" from his law practice wouldn't a prob- lem. Deutschmann said he'd make regional chair his pri- mary focus. "Everyone who knows me knows that when I'm in- volved in something it's 100 per cent. It's 24-7." He hopes to commit one way or the other by month's end. NEWS Deutschmann mulling run for regional chair BILL JACKSON bjackson@kitchenerpost.ca