I am a life-long resident of Chatham-Kent, married with two children and four grandchildren. I am a retired principal. I have served on numerous community organizations. I was alderman in the former city of Chatham and later served as the provincial appointee to the Chatham Police Services Board. Currently, I am a Ward 6 councillor, member of the Public Health Board, Public Utilities Commission, and Heritage Committee.
My vision is that our community will grow and prosper; our youth will have a job and stay to raise a family; and all citizens have the facilities and programs needed to remain active.
I have the experience, background, and leadership qualities necessary to be an effective councillor. Being retired I have the time to devote to this important position.
Would you support a tax freeze or rollback if it meant reduced staff or services?
Attempts to reduce services have met with citizen outcry.
Would you support an OPP costing study?
It would not be an “apples to apples” comparison. Cost to retire an entire municipal force would be astronomical.
Would you support examining a volunteer-only fire service if the provincial arbitration system isn’t overhauled?
Arbitration system is not working, but larger urban centres need full time firefighters.
Do you believe we should continue our ongoing efforts to attract economic investment from China?It’s a global world. Ignoring China or Asia is shortsighted.
Would you support contracting municipal services to the private sector if those services can be delivered more efficiently?
With proper checks and balances
Would you support investigating amalgamation of fire/ambulance/police services to reduce costs?
Some of that is already in place.
Would you support a municipal tree-cutting bylaw if it contained incentives for woodlot owners to retain/increase tree cover?
Such incentives may be necessary if current policy fails
Do you believe we need a municipal ombudsman or ethics commissioner such as London and Windsor have added?
I’ve seen no evidence that one is required.
Would you consider developing a usage benchmark for municipal offices, arena and libraries and closing those that don’t meet the standards?
Smaller communities need these services
Do you support development of a community-wide multipurpose recreation centre?
If financial assistance came from senior levels of government.
Do you support an adopt-a-park program in which service or volunteer groups assume some maintenance (grass cutting) of some municipal facilities?
This should be easy to facilitate.
Do you support investigating a reduction in the number of municipal councilors?
I support a reduction by half.
Election platform
Over the past 4 years the foundation has been set for Strategic Directions. It is now time to build upon them to be the absolute best we can be, and to truly “Cultivate Growth . . . . Shore To Shore”.
Jobs – Lobby the provincial government to help us level the playing field so that we can fairly compete. We need to be able to offer incentives to be globally competitive.
Support our Small Business Centre that provides advice and assistance to perspective entrepreneurs. We can help by eliminating red tape and approve appropriate zoning.
Work with our Workforce Planning Board to help bridge the skills gap with our current workforce.
Financial sustainability – Keep taxes as low as possible while maintaining services that citizens want and need.
We can no longer ignore infrastructure needs. Doing so will only cause bigger problems and more costs for the next generation. We must examine the high cost of engineering fees with these projects to look for efficiencies.
Finally, we need to push the senior levels of government for more funding as amalgamation forced an unreasonable burden on Chatham-Kent to alone manage all its infrastructure needs.
People- Continue to support and invest in our Resident Attraction and Retention department to set the environment that retains our population and attracts newcomers.
When young people were surveyed as to what they wanted in a community, it was – chance for a good job, affordability, safe community to raise a family, and quality of life. Employers agree. They want the same for their employees. They want arts, culture, theatre, parks, arenas; they want a community that is active. We need to invest in those areas and services that enrich our quality of life.
Health – Continue working with the private sector to further build more walking and biking trails.
Continue to invest in our parks and arenas.
Continue to support the Health Alliance in attracting more doctors to our community.
Ensure that accessibility is not a barrier to anyone.
Tourism- Work with and support the Tourism Stakeholders group to develop a comprehensive plan to maximize this potential. We live in the greatest community in Canada! With our moderate climate, fertile land, abundance of fruits and vegetables, wineries, beaches, fishing, hunting, Black history, and National history, we should be generating more tourism dollars. The stakeholders are trying. Council needs to take a more supportive and active role.
