By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer
He helped pull Sarnia out of the Great Depression.
That probably best sums up the career of William F. Crompton, who served as our 54th Mayor in 1936.
Crompton, a railroad engineer who lived at 180 Alfred Street, sat on Council for several years as an Alderman before winning the City’s top political post with an upset election victory over incumbent Mayor Edward Bedard.
The new Chief Magistrate was sworn in just as the worst years of the depression were ending.
He took full advantage of the situation, moving aggressively to lower taxes and pay off some of the City’s burdensome debt. In fact, during Mayor Crompton’s one year at the helm the local unemployment rate was cut in half, taxes were reduced by 1.4 mills and the debt load was slashed to its lowest per capita level in 2O years.
Before leaving office he also turned the sod for construction of the new Capitol Theatre.
At the end of 1936 the City Treasurer reported Sarnia’s books were in as good a shape as those of any community in Ontario.
The economic picture was so rosy that The Observer ran a headline proclaiming ‘City May Now Leave Depression Behind’.
There were still hard times ahead, but the worst of the depression was indeed over.
Under Mayor Crompton’s direction Council also took the innovative step of purchasing its own asphalt plant so it could launch an ambitious road rebuilding program. As a result, the Mayor said, “a fine start has been made at permanently improving the streets of the Municipality”.
During August Sarnia marked its 100th Anniversary with what The Observer described as a parade and “monster picnic” in Canatara Park. Celebrations were capped off with the erection of a Cairn in Victoria Park. A century before, in 1836, local residents had voted 26 to 16 to change the Community’s name from The Rapids to Port Sarnia.
At his last meeting before stepping down, Mayor Crompton couldn’t help boasting about Council’s achievements. “We have succeeded this year as well as any previous Council” in history, he said.
Along with his wife, Janet Wilkie, he had one son.