2022 was the final year in politics for Rick Phillips.
The former Reeve of Tyendinaga Township and outgoing Warden of Hastings County stepped away before the fall election.
Phillips says staff turnover was a main focus in 2022 for Hastings County.
“Through attrition or whatever, (we) replaced or were in the process of replacing many of our directors and leaders in many sectors of our county. Whether it be long-term care, whether it be finance, human services. (We have) put ourselves, I believe in a very positive position to move forward.”
Phillips says they were able to find new people to work for the county, which is becoming more and more competitive.
“We need strong staff, we need strong leadership. I believe we’ve been able to achieve that. In my opinion, we’re in a very good place right now to move forward.”
He says that the cost of living hit all levels of government in 2022.
“We’re all struggling to try to keep up with the programs that we want to be able to provide. In some cases because of funding we’re not able to. We have to keep plugging at our partners to provide for more funding for us to be able to do what we have to do.”
