About
Brian Putman
Sixty years in this community. Twenty years as a professional planner. A first‑time candidate who has spent his career on the substance of municipal decisions.
A lifetime here
Brian Putman has called Southampton and Saugeen Shores home, or his home away from home, for more than 60 years. He has been engaged with local issues for nearly four decades and worked as a registered land‑use planner for 20 years.
His background spans municipal finance, operational and capital planning, health care, social services, construction, public policy and territorial land administration. He has developed territorial municipal funding formulae, municipal capital‑planning and funding policies, and budgeting software for hospitals.
Locally, he helped protect a significant Southampton woodland by organizing around the property and successfully petitioning Council for change.
Brian studies issues carefully, asks direct questions, listens to residents, and believes public participation should happen before consequential decisions are made, not after.
Background
Qualifications and experience
- More than 60 years as a seasonal and permanent resident of the community
- Nearly 40 years of engagement with local issues
- 20 years of professional land‑use planning experience
- Municipal finance, operations, capital planning, policy and territorial land administration
- Developed territorial municipal funding formulae and capital‑planning and funding policies
- Developed hospital budgeting software; worked in health‑care and social‑service environments
- Construction‑sector knowledge: how projects, policies and budgets interact in practice
- Successful community advocacy: the Southampton woodland campaign
A first‑time candidate
Brian has not served on Council before. That is a fair question for voters to ask, and it deserves a straight answer.
Council experience has real value. It is not, however, the only preparation for the mayor's role. What matters is the substance of a candidate's experience: judgment, preparation, financial and planning literacy, the ability to work through disagreement, respect for the distinct roles of Council and staff, and the willingness to listen and to explain decisions.
Brian offers fresh scrutiny combined with directly relevant municipal and planning experience. He would work collaboratively with Council, professional staff, Bruce County, other levels of government and the public.
Tone and approach
- Plain‑spoken, informed and specific.
- Firm about due diligence and accountability, without making claims that cannot be proven.
- Respectful of residents, staff and other candidates. Disagreement is about decisions and systems, not people.
- Community‑centred rather than partisan.
- Hopeful and practical: the problem, the principle, and the action Brian would take.
A few clarifications
Mary Putnam is not related to Brian and has no connection to this campaign. Her views have sometimes been confused with his.
Brian supports Southampton Cruiser Nights and does not support efforts to undermine that long‑running volunteer tourism event.
This campaign is independent. Brian is not aligned with a developer, a corporation or a political party. Where the campaign works alongside service clubs, sports organizations, arts and heritage groups, health‑care providers, employers, social agencies or Saugeen Ojibway Nation, that cooperation does not imply an endorsement unless one has been expressly given.