I am a 41-year-old Montreal-born French-Canadian living in Chatham-Kent since 1995. My education includes human resource law as well as fashion design.
My business experiences includes co-ordinating and managing various projects, owning and operating an art studio, instructing art both privately and in public schools and managing income property.
I have been consistently involved in various community endeavours, including serving on the board of directors for both the Chatham-Kent Women’s Centre and Association Francaise La Girouette, as well as volunteering at Riverview Garden.
Would you support a tax freeze or rollback if it meant reduced staff or services?
Yes
Would you support an OPP costing study?
Yes
Would you support examining a volunteer-only fire service if the provincial arbitration system isn’t overhauled?
Yes
Do you believe we should continue our ongoing efforts to attract economic investment from China?
No. I believe that we need to promote Chatham -Kent all around the world but with today technology I don’t think that we need to send large group 2-3 times a year to China
Would you support contracting municipal services to the private sector if those services can be delivered more efficiently?
Yes
Would you support investigating amalgamation of fire/ambulance/police services to reduce costs?
Yes
Would you support a municipal tree-cutting bylaw if it contained incentives for woodlot owners to retain/increase tree cover?
Yes
Do you believe we need a municipal ombudsman or ethics commissioner such as London and Windsor have added?
Yes
Would you consider developing a usage benchmark for municipal offices, arena and libraries and closing those that don’t meet the standards?
Yes
Do you support development of a community-wide multipurpose recreation centre? No. Chatham-Kent could use a large Arena but only if we could find a way to finance it without raising the taxes.
Do you support an adopt-a-park program in which service or volunteer groups assume some maintenance (grass cutting) of some municipal facilities?
Yes
Do you support investigating a reduction in the number of municipal councilors?
Yes
Platform
The main focus of the council should be concise and precise, and include the following:
Employment:
Encourage, support and assist small business by facilitating a less complicated application process, thereby reducing cost, time and stress for existing and potential business growth.
Stimulate new business through research and forward vision, various financial incentives, re-training of the existing unemployed workforce, and municipal staff support.
Ensure that any of Chatham-Kent’s business tenders are offered to local business and then make it feasible for them to submit tenders within reasonable and practical processes and time lines. It is not acceptable to award contracts outside our community when we have equally as capable, talented and eager people here at home.
Public tax dollars should be spent on employing local citizens and supporting local opportunities and business and this process of distribution of money should be totally transparent to the public.
Promote Chatham-Kent
Focus and strive creatively to promote assets and advantages within Chatham-Kent including and not limited to the following:
The 401 corridor
Rich agriculture heritage and opportunities
Extensive shore line
Strategic location close to London, Sarnia, Windsor, Detroit and Toronto
Work force
Affordable and available land and homes
Multi-Cultural heritage
Tourism opportunities
Popular festivals
Grow the Tax Base
Create programs and promote assets which will invite people to view Chatham as a vibrant and prosperous place to call home.
Affordable and available Land
Strategic location close to London, Sarnia, Windsor, Detroit and Toronto
Impressive, magnificent yet affordable architecture heritage homes as well as various other real estate opportunities priced well below larger city market prices.
Lobby the government about the current rising costs of electricity, fuel, and insurance which have all been negatively impacting the municipal budget, home and business owners, retirees and people on fixed incomes.
Infrastructure
Chatham-Kent has a unique infrastructure of many waterways, bridges, rural roadways, urban roads, as well as curb and sewage issues.
This infrastructure demands greater attention to support, development, improvement, and grants which will sustain our community.
Be efficient and economically responsible with repair and upkeep.
Explore every possible grant and financial support for such unique systems.
Make our infrastructure a priority above unnecessary expenditures.
Keep tax increases at minimum (if any).
The Municipality should restrain from any larges expenditure until the tax base grows .The municipal “big ticket” items should be put on hold until we see signs of economic recovery. The ideal scenario for our community is revitalization, but we need more emphasis on what taxpayers can actually afford as opposed to dream projects resulting in debt and rising taxes.
Major municipal projects should have a strong business case with indentified outcomes that benefit the community and support the private sector but do not create competition for local businesses.
Find saving in every municipal department.
Examine the cost of our emergency services and our ability to pay for them.
Increase Accountability and Transparency
