Red Tape for Farmers
This community, which land use is primarily agricultural, needs a voice that understands the time of essence for farmland growth. For Ontario farmers, regardless of crop type or land use, any advancements made to aid the agricultural process are extremely time sensitive. The issue we have currently is that the city process is geared heavily toward development and as such, development groups get preference and focus, above the needs of the farming community. My plan to solve this growing problem is rather simple. once elected we will put forward a motion that allows a committee to be formed. This committee will act on a special issues style with meetings being held weekly when requested. This would apply solely to agricultural based land uses. By doing this, the new committee can then vote on a preliminary acceptance (allowing the plan to be posted (encouraging neighborhood input)). By having a specialized group look after this step of the process it will force speedier decisions, while not stopping the option of citizen input. This would only apply to farmland type approvals and would still pass through the city's zoning departments. The real benefit will be the lack of time between meeting's which will expedite preapprovals based on preliminary work that needs to be done. Currently, the applicant will wait in between meetings forcing the process to stretch months, sometimes years. We owe it to our local farmers to allow them to spend more time growing and less time waiting for the city to read the application.
Snow Removal
It sounds minor but a major issue facing ward 14 is snow removal. The incumbent seems to be satisfied with Flamborough being last on the totem pole. It will become my personal mission to fix this. Snow covered roads are unsafe whether your in the city suburban areas or rurally. My ultimate concern is the fact that many times, a rural wards roads, when snow covered, are much more dangerous then others. Open farmland is unforgiving during a winter storm and with development bordering most parts of this ward I also worry about the effects of increased traffic. The days of having one car pass through Greensville or travel down Governors Road are gone. Ward 14 has become a major source of transit for many people during their commute. Once elected, I will change the way snow is handled on the roads of ward 14. Its about time that ward 14 gets services for all the tax dollars that are invested annually by its residents.
Transit
The debate over transit has been heated for past couple years regarding a comparison of LRT verses BRT. It really depends what school of thought you come from as to whether either one is more beneficial over the other. Knowing that either way, Flamborough will not be receiving this sort of service in the near future, I feel its most important to focus on the long term sustainability of the program, in hopes, the program will eventually link all parts of the city. From a dollars perspective, I don't believe the ridership is there to support any new master transit project but, in the essence of expansion and growth we find this to be a necessary step in moving forward into the future.
I would like to explore the option of moving into a P3 model. Under this model, which has been very successful in other surrounding markets, it would allow private enterprise and the municipal government (with financial aid of the provincial government) to work together to expand and grow our transit program. Lets face it, governments, at almost every level, are not great at investing in anything (see the gas plant and the sale of 407 as a recent examples). It takes the help and assistance of a private company in order to properly get these programs completed. Private companies will be more efficient and will focus solely on offering great service as it will directly relate to their own bottom line. The perk for the city in this case is that we receive the type of service we require while getting the benefits of added infrastructure and planning from an efficient private corporation.
Airport business park
Once elected, first and foremost, I will put a hold on the development of these airport lands for the current business park development until either firm tenant contracts are signed or a see a plan that benefits the city of Hamilton (current plan benefits property developers, which I will touch on shortly) . From the information I received from the current council, via news related releases, they are planning to offer warehouse space for companies to either start in Hamilton or move to Hamilton. This plan of tenant focus is a complete pipe dream.
Lets first clarify that in no way, shape, or form do warehouses generate job growth. As someone who is in the warehousing business, we run these ships extremely tight. On the same point, what jobs are created in the warehouse business are typically low income type positions. People who are typically employed in this type of operation often do not have a reliable means of transportation and as it sits, Hamilton's transit plan wont be able to accommodate these new positions. What this means is, these warehouse units WILL sit empty. Companies will not move their business, or start a business for that matter, where they have no access to qualified labour. This overall plan is destined to be a failure. However, this plan may be designed to fail. If this plan fails, with all the added infrastructure, property developers will stand to gain massive amounts of money and easier access to permit approval, largely based on the fact that most preliminary work will have already been completed during the building of the business park.
According to some city councillors, they have a solution...they want food related warehousing to be implemented as it fits with many other Hamilton based businesses, most notably Canada Bread, who I might add is a manufacturing food business, entirely different from basic warehousing spaces. The main issue with this theory is the fact that major renovation and infrastructure has been and is being added to the Ontario food terminal in Toronto. In turn, the warehouse businesses that are currently there cant afford to move their operations out of Toronto without being uncompetitive to the rest of the market. This also takes away the idea of bringing food to Hamilton by air as most air food transit will still land closest to the main hub...Toronto. This entire "plan" is a pipe dream, the only benefit appears to be toward the possibly of future development and a continuation of the city limit expansion boundary.
Taxes in ward 14
Lets face it, ward 14 receives little to no service from the city and yet pays proportionate rates to the rest of the city. In my opinion, council is unfairly taking advantage of Flamborough residents, and taking the extra tax generated revenue and using it to hedge against the rest of the city. For the purpose of providing clarity, I am going to call this "leveraging population", which ill address later. Just the basic figures tell the true story. Since amalgamation, Flamborough residents have been generously given a 59% tax increase all the while receiving what appears to be less in services then was had before. Anytime, we have a blending of communities, or even families for that matter, it takes a high degree of compromise and acceptance of each parties position. In the case of this example, amalgamation, Flamborough has been served the raw end of the deal. A major part of my plan is to bring clarity for the people of Flamborough and illustrate a more balanced approach then was ever offered by the incumbent.
Its truly unfortunate, that with such an outcry from residents, their voices have largely gone unheard. I am tired of having the buck passed on to another level of government. Amalgamation was a provincial choice but now this balance has become a municipal issue. After this election, the buck stops here. I will get the residents the answers and respect that they deserve.
Community Councils
I can start by saying that community councils are imperative to the success of this council. It appears to be a protectionist perspective for those who don't think they are beneficial. My view is that the more assistance we can receive from the public, in making decisions, the better.
I will utilize community councils in order to be better informed on the concerns of my constituents while also addressing the issues with red tape on minor projects. Community councils will be extremely beneficial as many preliminary details will be sorted before going into council. This extra level of preparation will not only service the constituents better but will free up time and money at city hall.
Councillors, current and new, should embrace community input. Conversation does one of two things. It either affirms your position on an issue or allows you, as the listener, to see your faults in fact. As I have said, community councils are imperative to the success of the coming term of office.
Term limits
Term limits are always a delicate issue for councils to vote on. I support council in all the work they do and I understand the delicate nature of voting yourself out of a job. The real issue is that being an elected official at the municipal ward councillor level is not a job, its a service to the community.
In the private sector, upper management is often changed frequently. This allows private companies to consistently innovate their product offerings and services. As well, process efficiencies are found more frequently through this model. What I will propose for the city is the option of bringing term limits for council at two served terms. Under this model, I think you will find that council is more eager to get things done quickly as they only serve in a total of two consecutive terms of office.
From the mayors seat, this term limit would not apply. The mayor is the head of the city. The mayors ideals and direction should be one of a 30 year cycle. We need a mayor that can sustain a long period in office in order to make sure that the direction of the city stays intact, see Hazel McCallion for an example of what a long time mayor with a plan can accomplish. The mayors role is to truly lead, not only council, but the city. Council has shown little respect to the mayor and in turn, this creates an environment that is not conducive to effectively getting positive solutions.
Term limits are a road we should cross. I will push to have the term limit concept added to the election ballet in the 2018 municipal election as a referendum vote. We will let the voting populace decide.
STOPPING LEVERAGED POPULATION
We are being taxed to death. Its clear that Hamilton has a spending problem and councils solution to the problem is to increase the taxes. Through area rating, which obviously isn't working, each area ward is taxed "proportional" to the rest of the city (what is the correct portion of zero service?). This has to change. If for no one else, the current model has not, and has never, worked for the betterment of the residents in ward 14.
Whether through hidden agenda, or just simply by a neglected understanding, the city has it wrong. Amalgamation has made council lazy and use to having a much larger tax base for which to spread the deficit. How do we go about correcting this problem?
This ward needs a councillor that is not afraid to step outside the comfort zone of councils overall thought process. I want to look at what services are being delivered to residents and what services are not. For those services that are not being handled correctly nothing will change but for those that are not, change will be made. Lets take snow removal as an example.
I don't feel that snow removal is handled properly in this ward and it can be solved by eliminating the snow removal portion from the tax breakdown. The service would then be privately contracted, allowing the service to be completed properly while saving the taxpayer against the old system. The savings of this move would then be allocated back to the tax payer as a reduction in taxes, spread over the following three years after the change is made (this structured tax reduction plan would provide very limited strain on the overall budget process of the rest of the city).
Again, I ask the question...why are we paying for services we don't receive?
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