Cobalt Mayor And Council

Top Row: Angela Hunter, Doug Wilcox, Jim Starchuk, Gary Hughes

Bottom Row: Pat Anderson, Mita Gibson, Harry Cooper

Mayor Mita Gibson

I was born and raised in North Bay Ontario, having spent a lot of my summers in Powassan with my grand-parents on Ruth Lake.

I have always lived a very active lifestyle, being raised playing many competitive sports(hockey, soccer, baseball, basketball, football).

My true passion however is being close to nature and I try to provide as many opportunities as possible for my two boys to experience all that nature has to offer. I have been a strong voice with avian rescue as well with corvids being my passion.

I hope to bring all of these values into my tenure as the mayor of Cobalt and look forward to any and all challenges to help raise Cobalt and its citizens to the next level.

Email: [email protected]

Councillor Pat Anderson

I first discovered Cobalt and fell in love with our wonderful mining history back in the 60’s when I picked up a tourist brochure called “Cobalt, the Town that Silver Built”. Twenty years later, after a varied career in teaching and geophysical research, I arrived at the Cobalt Resident Geologist’s office to research the mining history of all the Cobalt Silver Camp mines and townships.

During that time, we also designed and opened the Heritage Silver Trail sites. Subsequently, I moved to the town office to continue tourism development primarily in Cobalt and also throughout the Tri-Towns.

I’ve served on a number of Councils over the years as well as volunteering for many organizations.

Highlights include over 20 years with the Cobalt Mining Museum and Miner’s Festival, the Cobalt Historical Board, the revitalization of The Bunker, the Cobalt Legion, the Golden Age Club, the Cobalt Food Bank, Science North Board, Nordic Ski Club Board and the initial development of the Pavillion Women’s Centre.

Cobalt is my forever home.

Email: [email protected]

Councillor Harry Cooper

I was born and raised in Cobalt and have remained here all of my life. I have been married to my wife Lisa for 33 years and we have 1 daughter. I have a diploma as a Civil Engineering Technician as well as many other certificates relevant to my field.

Throughout the 90s and into the early 2000’s I worked on many of our infrastructure projects as an inspector with KMK consultants. These included 3 connecting link projects, 2 water plant upgrades, the Constructed Sewage Wetlands and the Fire Hall addition.

I currently do consultant work for a local contractor as well as do maintenance for a local seniors housing building in New Liskeard.

I truly enjoy the outdoors and on weekends you can find me and my wife spending time at our cottage fishing in the spring and summer, hunting in the fall and working in my shop in the winter. I am proud to be chosen to represent the taxpayers for the next 4 years and look forward to the challenges ahead.

I am open and honest and I urge the taxpayers of Cobalt to share their ideas and concerns with all members of council.

Email: [email protected]

Councillor Gary Hughes

Email: [email protected]

Councillor Angela Hunter

Originally from Salmon Arm BC, I moved to the Temiskaming area in 2013 because it reminded me of home while still having affordable housing.

My education is in geography, economics, environmental studies and education which combine to fuel my interest in sustainable urban planning. For a small town, I believe Cobalt has a history of being ahead of the curve in implementing sustainable initiatives to the overall benefit of the community.

In my personal life I am a mother of 2 young boys, business owner, wanabe cyclist/bike mechanic volunteer, and occasionally find the time to read or listen to audio books about biographies/historic fiction/mysteries.

I look forward to being part of the ongoing development of our town.

Email: [email protected]

Councillor Jim Starchuk

I was born in Hamilton On. Sept 1964 and was placed into a foster home for 8 months awaiting adoption. Rose and Nick Starchuk adopted me and I joined them and their already adopted boy Paul Starchuk and was placed in (at the time) the small village of Waterdown Ontario. In June of 1970 we relocated to Burlington due to my brother Paul’s special needs. I began a musical journey at age 5 with the start of many piano lessons for which I’m very grateful for to this day. I played on a lot of house league sports teams in various different sports types (Hockey being my favourite) this taught me how to work as a team to achieve a common goal.

I attended high school at both Burlington Central and Waterdown District High School and later attended Mohawk College for Applied Music. During the college years I worked as a Lawn and garden maintenance worker which I enjoy doing to this day.

I also spent a lot of time at Grace Anglican church in Waterdown practicing on their pianos and pipe organ during the college years and played various live shows with the Michael Granka band back in the mid to late 80’s which again taught me how to work with others and improvise in the moment . I have also done a lot of studio keyboard work for various local (Southern Ontario) artists at the “Garage Studio” in Waterdown.

I have one very musically talented daughter from a previous marriage whom has had to deal with Cerebral Palsy from the time she was a small child. My brother Paul was recently moved from Community Living in Burlington to Central West Developmental Services in Oakville On.

I have had many different kinds of work experiences but some of my long-term employment was with companies such as The Toronto sun newspaper as a District manager (10 years) and Schneider National Carriers (15 years) as an ACZ Licensed driver which included being a trainer both over the road and inhouse.

Currently I am a Transit Bus driver in Temiskaming Shores.

My wife and I own 2 properties in Cobalt, one of them being a rental apartment building. We have a beautiful American Bulldog and a Cat.

Email: [email protected]

Councillor Doug Wilcox

A proud Cobalter, I attended Cobalt Public and High Schools before earning a BA at the University of Waterloo, where I also represented Arts Undergraduates on the University’s Senate and Board of Governors.

There then followed a decade in financial services which included a year of trading on the floor of the Toronto Stock Exchange, and a stock market report on Calgary’s CBC radio.

I then returned to Ontario and Cobalt, where I worked for Community Living and have begun my fourth term on Council. I have two children and one adorable rabbit. My main objectives for this term are to keep taxes as low as possible by reviewing all contracts and expenses to find savings and to repair, maintain, and replace Town assets as required.

Email: [email protected]

Committees & Boards

The Town of Cobalt, like most other municipalities, could not survive without the tireless efforts of those dedicated individuals who contribute their time and talent to the community. The Town of Cobalt is indebted to these individuals who make us a community to be proud of.

Council will meet on the 1^st and 3^rd Tuesdays of each month.

All meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. and are held at the Cobalt Community Hall

The meeting schedule is subject to change when necessary.