Ward 3 and 4 Candidate Responses
Read What Ward Three and Four Candidate Have to Say About the Issues that Matter to You Most.
Introduction:
We are a group of seven community organizations located within Wards Three and Four. We each serve area residents who experience barriers to accessing health and community resources. Our goal is to listen and respond to the electoral needs of these residents during the 2010 Municipal Election campaign by:
- Supporting their involvement with the political issues that affect their lives;
- Assisting them to draw attention to health and community issues;
- Helping them to vote by getting them to the polls
The partnership among the seven community organizations is non-partisan and does not endorse any particular candidate.
Listening and Learning
Over the fall, we conducted a number of focus groups within the communities we serve. At each, we asked participants about the community issues they are most concerned with. Three common themes were identified: transportation; housing; and waste management.
In late September, we asked all of the candidates for City Council running in Wards Three or Four to share their positions on these issues by answering the following questions.
- Given that the London Transit Commission (LTC) is an agent of the City of London, if elected, will you initiate, support and vote for improved service, support and resourcing of the LTC? Why?
- The City of London is responsible for promoting, developing and operating affordable housing options. If elected, will you advance, support and vote for improved access and development of affordable housing in your Ward? Tell us about your intended approach.
- Waste management is a direct responsibility of the City of London. If elected will you undertake, support and vote for enhanced waste management and recycling capacity? Tell us how you intend to approach this issue.
Responses from Ward Three Candidates:
Tony Burns – No response.
Linda Freeman
Transportation: I support the use of electronic boards posted around the city (downtown already has “real time” schedules) and more shelters, especially in areas where north winds prevail and there is no other shelter. Buses could be rerouted from the Dundas and Richmond area so it is not so congested. I would encourage smaller shuttle buses to run to and from high schools, where students could use a ticket to take a bus from a neighbourhood (outside of the school busing area) to their schools, at peak times. For example, buses would travel directly from 6-8am and 2-4pm.
Housing: Recently walked around an affordable housing complex on Huron St. near Sandford (Huron Pines) it was attractive, clean and nicely landscaped. These are the projects that I would support as well as affordable apartments. An emphasis has to be placed on the safety of the area so pathways leading to and from the housing would be clean and well-lit. Children and teens have to feel safe, no matter where they live.
Waste Management: I support a return to the weekly garbage pickup. It would be a good idea to have volunteers (community service for secondary school students) to be cleaning up garbage on the streets of downtown. Most streets are littered with cigarette butts and garbage. Not attractive for tourism or economic activity in the core. Wood chips and compost collected by city workers could be bagged and sold on weekends. This could save on the environment and increase revenue for the city at the same time.
German Gutierrez
Transportation: Yes, I definitely will. Improved public transportation is essential if we want a stronger, revitalized and futuristic City. If we can provide more buses, more routes and offer improved schedules so people can get to jobs in rural areas, commute in the times required to have one or more part time jobs and travel from the newer subdivisions to the downtown area, we will have solved an important percentage of our transportation problems. There are also environmental considerations. Allowing people who live in suburban areas to use public transit instead of cars, and for people who work in areas just outside the city to use public transport at all hours will insure a cleaner and environmentally friendly city. I am aware that to insure a proper public transit system available to all Londoners, the city will have to subsidize the system just like many other Cities in the world are doing.
Housing: Yes, I will support and vote for initiatives that promote an improved access and development of affordable housing options. One of the functions of government is to ensure that all citizens are capable of participating in the social order. But when wages do not keep pace with costs, and when companies lay off people who then cannot find new jobs, the municipality has an important role to play in providing services that allow these people to continue to participate in the social, political and economic reality of their city. We no longer hear about Municipal not for profit housing, but the truth is that this is probably the clever thing to do.
Waste Management: Yes, I think the three main concerns of any growing metropolis will always be the quality of its water, the quality and capacity of its waste disposal systems and the efficiency and quality of its transportation and communication systems. Everything else is supported in the strengths of these basic municipal infrastructure elements. I like the blue box initiative. I believe that it has contributed to a cleaner and more environmentally friendly waste disposal system in London. In the past I supported the green box idea. Compost processing is a direction that can also be strengthened. There are things that have not been done, like looking for neighbouring municipalities for the development of joint efforts in the management of waste processing and transportation. However, I am not an expert in these processes so, above all, I will listen closely to what municipal and environmental experts have to say on the issue.
Ail Haidar
Transportation: Yes. An effective, efficient and accessible public transportation system is an essential element of any thriving City. To ensure that London is such a city we must continually implement improvements which will ensure that the LTC meets the needs of current users and makes public transit a more attractive mode of transport for an increasing number of Londoners.
Housing: Yes. This is an issue of particular importance for our Ward. In consultation with community service providers and their clients we must undertake a comprehensive review of the current system to identify and implement the required changes.
Waste Management: Yes. We have tremendous waste management resources in London which we need to do a better job of harnessing. Our current programs need to be improved and new technologies and processes for composting, recycling and disposal must be identified and implemented in co-operation with community members.
Rod Morley
Transportation: I will support initiatives for more resources, I am actively involved in trying to bring new ideas to the LTC in the form, of new ideas for a better bus routing system. I am presently promoting the improved services in the form of a light rail system for London 2030 transportation master plan.
Housing: No response.
Waste Management: No response.
Joe Swan
Transportation: Yes I support improvements to public transit. Transit must become a viable alternative to automobiles. We are getting better but there is more to do. I support the LTC plans to increase passenger trips with improved bus routes and dedicated bus lanes. We need to also promote the use of carpooling and active transportation such as cycling and walking on snow cleared sidewalks. Residents in Ward three are seeking improved routes in the Kilally area , to the airport industrial parks and better transfer systems. Paratransit response times are also in need of improvements. I want to see more eco-friendly vehicles on the road. I will encourage Council to appoint a bus rider and para-transit representative to be voting members of the LTC Commission.
Housing: I have been very active in building and supporting the development of affordable housing units in London. While on Council I voted in favour of financial support for the new Salvation Army and Mission Services shelters and also served for one year as the Executive Director of the Unity Project for the Relief of Homelessness. London must now look at more rent to geared income units, consider first time homeowner incentive programs and work closer with community agencies such as Habitat for Humanity and Participation House to build new homes.
Waste Management: It is vitally important we support and protect a greener city. We need to create a healthy an sustainable environment. The City of London should bring back reliable and regular garbage collection, expand the recyclables that can go into the Blue Box and improve opportunities for all of us to reduce our carbon footprint and find new ways to reduce, reuse and recycle waste. Composting food waste is the next step to success in recycling efforts of the City. We must expand our tree planting efforts in collaboration with community groups such a Reforest London to keep London’s tag as the Forest City. Public programs aimed at cleaning up local streets and neighbourhoods also can use more City support. Local Parks and green spaces are in need of better care. The City cannot do this alone, we can do more to instill civic pride in our City and by working together, business, homeowners and residents we can be proud of our Clean and Green City.
Henry Zupanc - No response.
Responses from Ward Four Candidates
Karen Appleton
Transportation: Yes. Transit has a direct effect on poverty when people on low income cannot get to health appointments, foodbanks or participate in society. This contributes to social isolation, poor mental health and poor physical health. The LTC planning committee should have actual users of the service to help make decisions.
Housing: Yes. Every family deserves a safe, healthy and affordable place to call home. Affordable housing provides stability, security and dignity. An affordable housing sector that is healthy and sustainable helps to build stronger communities. We need to improve the access to adequate, suitable and affordable housing for all Londoners.
Waste Management: Yes. I actually can’t remember the last time I saw a garbage can in a park.
Gloria Lee-Jones
Transportation: I would initiate, support and vote for improved services and support the LTC because Londoners depend on the transit service for every facet of their day-to-day lifes. An improved transit system is a right of every taxpayer who depends on the service as their means of survival.
Housing: When a report stresses that 1 of every 5 children lives in poverty, affordable housing is not just a right, it is a necessity. I would push city council and all levels of government to increase availability of affordable housing and geared to income housing. I would work with landlords with the focus of increasing the number of available rentals while setting in place standards that prevent those units from becoming slum dwellings.
Waste Management: I would work with council and environmentalists to produce cost effective solutions to improve our recycling capacity. I would support and vote for enhanced waste management and recycling capacity. I would encourage the general public to support, suggest and promote effective recycling measures. Something a simple as a second recycling box for families who would benefit would be a start.
Stephen Orser
Transportation: I believe we have a full-time city, with full-time problems. We need a full-time council, with that being said, the LTC should be abolished like the Board of Control. The new city council should take over all aspects o the LTC as part of their full-time duties. This is the only way to initiate, support and vote for improved service. In the area of affordable rates I would push for a one year singles bus pass, one year couples bus pass (used by either or together) and a one year family bus pass (used by the whole family or part) all at greatly reduced rates. I believe we should have an all day pass, or an all week pass also. The bus shelters should have a door for the winter and solar heating systems.
Housing: I have already worked with developers to bring subsidized housing to the Ward 4 and will continue. 72 units for seniors in Old East Village on the old Hudsons store site. My history at city hall is to help the disabled find accessible taxi cabs (9) to defending a disabled young lady charged by the city over back yard chickens after testifying about them at the ETC (we won). I will support modified eligibility to units for individuals who are disabled no problem, glad too.
Waste Management: I believe in needle bins, cigarette disposal units and more garbage cans a bus stops, etc. See my website for more ideas: www.stephenorser.com
Greg Thompson
Transportation: We cannot build a city that works for everyone without having a public transit system that gets much better at balancing the real needs of transit users, in the places where they live and work, with the reality of the city’s financial position. My first act on public transit will be to push for transit user representation on the board of the London Transit Commission. The people who use the system on a regular basis are the “experts” on whether the system is working, and how it can be improved. We need to look at how the federal gas tax dollars are being shared between improvements to our public transit system and spending on roads and other infrastructure projects. We need to push past the notion that only poor people use public transit, a barrier to having a real conversation on the importance of public transit, and accept that rising energy prices will have a huge impact on the transportation choices future Londoners will be making. We need to begin building a better system now.
Housing: Affordable housing is a particular interest of mine. As the long-time chair of the Old East Village Community Association, I have been actively involved for years in attracting quality affordable housing units to my neighbourhood. I believe that ALL neighbourhoods must have the entire range of housing options available to its residents. Mixed-income neighbourhoods are strong neighbourhoods. As the vice-chair of the Urban League of London, I participated in the drafting of the 2010 London Community Housing Strategy. I wrote the Urban League’s position papers on affordable housing for the recent 5-Year Official Plan Review where we tried to get a requirement for affordable housing units in all new multi-family construction in the city. As your councilor, I will seek a seat on the board of the London-Middlesex Housing Corporation and advocate on behalf of its residents. We need much more attention to the general disrepair of the city’s social housing stock, and to the safety of its residents, and we need to listen to residents when they identify problems within the system.
Waste Management: We cannot build a city that works for this generation, and for the next, without coming to terms with how we handle our waste products. There is real resistance from citizens about the additional costs from enhanced waste management practices. Much of this resistance comes from the city’s failure to make the argument clearly that refusing to act decisively now will push the costs forward to the next generation of Londoners. This is, at heart, an issue of fairness. There is no question in my mind that we need to do more and better, and we’ll have to find the funding within the existing budget to do so. Our public spaces, including parks, streets and the downtown, are important to all Londoners and must be clean and well-maintained. In the year 2010, facing the environmental and economic challenges that we are, we simply shouldn’t be arguing about green bin pickup, for example. Extending the life of our landfill should be a high priority because building new ones is far more expensive.
This information has been compiled by The Ark Aid Street Mission, Centre communitairre regional de London, London InterCommunity Health Centre, Life Resource Centre, LUSO Community Services and WOTCh Community Mental Health Services.
