Brantford Municipal Election 2018

The final STAR of my 5 STAR platform is Community Engagement. So let’s bring this equation all together.

Safe Community + a Moving Community + Growing Local Economy + Healthy and Stable Community = Community Engagement

The future success of a city is through its engagement in business and residents. Neighbours helping neighbours and businesses helping businesses with one common goal for everyone to succeed.

What is great about Ward 5 is that the foundation for this already exists. Through neighbourhood associations, the community can continue to interact and communicate with a common goal of a safe and healthy environment. Microcommunities all working together.

No matter which way we want to look at how society is moving, human interaction is still a top priority for the well-being of individuals. There is a reason why small towns in Ontario are thriving much greater than in urban centres.

For example, I have worked on a community-based program in Hamilton for 6 years. Every year, I am told another story from residents of how they have lived on their street for 13 years in suburbia of Hamilton Mountain, never to know their neighbours. Very few interactions and absolutely no thought of ever having any association with each other. Moving from Kitchener to Collingwood, Thornbury, and to a tight community in Florida opened my eyes to how communities can interact and come together, and it does not have to be a small town to achieve this. When I moved back from the US to Toronto and then Cambridge, I had the same suburbia experience as those residents in Hamilton and did not enjoy it, hence the reason I moved to East Ward in Brantford.

We have the DNA to thrive together, and once we have a few more pieces in place like safety and transportation, Ward 5 will be the STAR on the map.

What I need to do once elected as one of your council representatives is to ensure the funding equality is there for us. The inequality towards Ward 5 has gone on way too long, and I will not stand for it. Our paths and walkways are in rough shape. People are afraid to walk down the street as they fear injuries. This is a big sore spot for many with little being accomplished over the past 4 years by the city and council push it forward unlike other wards who get everything they need in respects to sidewalk repair and maintenance. Many of our parks have been left to rust and rot and now Mohawk Park and Mohawk Lake are in jeopardy. The city still focuses on pouring all its money and resources into Shellard Lane. As your councillor, I will put an action plan in place to replace and upgrade the remaining parks in East Ward and Eagle Place.

I also want to look at ways to increase the adult activity opportunities for Ward 5 and Brantford. Unless you play pickleball or badminton, there are no further opportunities unless you are over 50 years old in the community Activity Guide. Business and engagement opportunities exist for learning and development programs, activities, and sports for adults and families, arts and culture activities and studies, and abilities to enhance skills and education by tapping into the resources of people we have at hand in our Ward. I have spoken with several people over the summer about how they would volunteer or charge minimally to provide services for residents in Ward 5 if organized and promoted through the cities already structured programs.

The last thing I want to touch base on in my 5 STAR platform is the preservation of the rich stories and history our city has. We need to continue to support our museums, cultural centres, libraries, and archives, along with the beautiful architecture we have in our Ward. These areas need our support through volunteers and funding. I feel there is an opportunity to engage as a community and support these areas among many others that help Ward 5 grow and succeed. We also have a major opportunity to increase investment and engagement in the music and arts culture as we have the ability to not #priceout our creative community like Toronto and now Hamilton. We should harvest this and foster programs and innovation. Technology, art, music, food, and education are 5 industries that never fad away and always bring people together.

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