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Page 3 <br />me if I had any hot tips for him. I don't usually give any advice, but I did <br />have one horse that had been training rather well, so I told him Wallet <br />Sniffer was a bit of a longshot, but she should have a good chance of at <br />least placing. When I saw Matt the next week, I asked him if he placed a <br />wager on Wallet Sniffer. "I did indeed" he said. "I put $20 on her and she <br />came in at 25 to 1 ". "Great news", I said. "You must have cashed a nice <br />ticket". "No, not really", he replied. "The rest of the field came in at 12:30". <br />For seven years running, I have had the honour of being able to present my <br />thoughts and perspectives on the state of affairs across the County of <br />Essex. In the past, my remarks, for the most part, have followed a fairly <br />similar approach — speak to the County's financial fundamentals, highlight <br />some of the challenges we faced at the time, propose way to address these <br />challenges and celebrate a variety of positive accomplishments that have <br />occurred in our community. <br />This year, I am going to try something a little different. I will frame my <br />remarks through the lens of a presentation I attended at the recent Rural <br />Ontario Municipal Association Conference. Rarely have I been so moved, <br />so affected and so given to reflection as I have been following this <br />particular session. The impact of that talk upon me has been profound. <br />The presenter was Doug Griffiths, a former elected official at the municipal <br />and provincial levels in Alberta, who now specializes in providing strategic <br />