Brian Reitzel has zero-balance budgeting experience from working with the LCBO, combined with Bryan Paterson’s economic expertise, Bill’s efforts in addressing the Payment in Lieu of Taxes, and Dorothy’s logistics experience, hopefully we’ll see more bang for our buck. I’m not promising tax reductions, but maybe, just maybe these guys can work together to keep any increases to a bare and justified minimum.

(side note the Bryan v Brian is going to be more confusing then Gerretsen, Garrison!)

There is no doubt in my mind that the city will start addressing our affordable housing needs immediately. Everyone on Council is on board with finding housing solutions for our community. It’s not a matter of ‘if’ anymore, I’m sure all the Councillors are itching to get that shovel into the ground.

One of the gaps I’ve already identified in previous blogs is the lack of planning integration between the city and school boards. Now with a high school teacher and vice-principal on Council, we’re sure to get better interaction and decision making in this area. Yes Jim, despite my previous writings about you, I’m still expecting you to be a positive addition to Council. I hope one of your’s and Rick’s first calls is to the newly elected school trustees.

No worries for the Arts Community, with Bill, Liz, Jim and Dorothy working together, and after some hopeful fine tuning of the Cultural Plan, the Arts should be well supported. Decorative manhole covers here we come!

I believe we have more community minded people like Rob, Jeff, Sandy, Lisa and Liz to watch out for the people geographers like to call the ‘others’. I’m a bit disappointed that we don’t any second language speakers, or do we? Any closet linguists that I don’t know about? That’s ok, I have high hopes that our new Canadians and First Nations communities will still be taken care of with this Council.

Jeff, Lisa and Sandy will be our environmental watchdogs, ensuring decisions made are safe for all living things, and advancing our support for alternative energies.

I know that Kevin, Mark, Bryan and Brian will help build our business community and support organizations like Kedco. Through this support there is hope of expanding our tax base to help reduce the tax burden for residents.

One of my concerns is whether this Council will do a better job of responding to residents. I think they will, but if they don’t respond to you, call me! I know where they live and I’m willing to knock on their door for you. I have an idea to help with this too. I’d like the city to develop a trouble ticket system like we use in software. Residents call a central number, or log in to a city website, express their concerns or ideas, and receive a ticket number. Non private information is logged online for all tax payers to see, and the concern is sent to the appropriate department. Residents will all be able to see concerns being resolved, and backlogs to the system can be identified. Before a ticket can be closed or considered resolved, the resident must express their level of satisfaction with the solution. With this kind of system, we’ll know where more help is needed, and we’ll have a visual to see the city at work responding to residents needs.

Now, about that third crossing…. Eric Walton, Kingston and the Island’s Federal Green Party Candidate and I (and a few of our new manufacturing friends) were at Bombardier today checking out some of their R&D processes and new exciting prototypes. What an amazing facility! Great stuff is happening in our backyard! (ok, technically our side yard). Eric and I are meeting next week to discuss Kingston’s future light rail / tram system, Brian et al you’re welcome to join us.

Congratulations to all successful candidates, and thank you to everyone who put their name in the hat, your efforts were much appreciated by those of us who made the effort to get to the polls.

The election results highlighted a very big concern for me, where did all the voters go? Not just who didn’t get off their butt to vote, we lost 11,668 eligible voters! Where did they go? With all the new housing development, Greenwood Park, Block D, increased enrollment at Queen’s and St Lawrence, increased housing prices and a 1.3% vacancy rate, I would have expected the number of eligible voters to remain close to that of the 2006 election. Take a look:

What I wanted to do was give you an analysis of per district voting, but, I don’t trust the numbers. (Note a call to the city clerk’s office was not immediately returned) What I calculated was the number who voted versus the number on the 2006 voter’s list.

Since we apparently lost 11,668 eligible voters from the 2006 election, these numbers can’t possibly be accurate. Because of this, I doubt the City Clerk’s percentage of voter turnout is accurate. How many students were on the voter’s list? I suspect we’re missing a big chunk of numbers from this group. What effort was made by the city clerk to directly target students to ensure they were registered to vote? The same with CFB Kingston personal. 11,668 missing voters would be enough to change the election results in all districts. And, if 11,668 voters really did pack up and leave, we’re in trouble.

Patrick Vecchio
James Sayeau
Vicki Schmolka
John Last
Sandy Berg
Dorothy Hector
Bryan Paterson
Jeffrey Lowes
Richard Moller
Rob Matheson
Bill Glover
Mark Bain

Notice that I didn’t choose a Mayor, I’m not convinced we need one if we have a co-operative group. Instead, each Councillor would be responsible for the Mayor’s typical baby kissing duties for a month, kind of like what we do with the Deputy Mayor now.

Recognizing that everyone can’t be everything, I’ve chosen these people for particular strengths that they would bring to the horseshoe, do you know what they are? To everyone who didn’t make the list, nothing against you, I’m just daydreaming.

Looking forward to tracking the election results at Fanatics tonight, if you’re there, come say hi!

In a different section of Pittsburgh District… The dog ate my homework?

Kevin Lavalley and Nathan Wilson are great guys. They have some interesting ideas on how to make the city a better place for everyone, unfortunately they didn’t have the time or money to be able to sell their ideas to voters. I don’t think either of these guys really wanted to be Mayor, but I’m glad they came along for the ride, it was entertaining, and inspiring to my kids. Since Kevin is currently pursuing a political science degree at Queen’s, I hope and expect we’ll find his name on another ballot sometime soon. But you need to rethink that ferry idea Kevin, you lost me there. Nathan, I love your red hair! Kevin’s Video

My favourite Mayoral candidate, John Last is far more intelligent than a couple of our other candidates. He’s articulate, enthusiastic, and kicked butt during Cogeco’s Behind the Ballot Debate. Unfortunately for John, he has a more than full time job which couldn’t accommodate the hours needed to operate a Mayoral campaign to get his name out there. I think compared to some of the other Mayoral candidates, John could actually do a great job within my Utopian Council. And the beard! We could make it a tourist attraction, or symbol of the city, after all, it is magnificent! Regardless of the outcome of this election (ya never know), you have my number John, call me, I’ll happily be your campaign manager for the next election. John’s Video

I have no doubt that Barrie Chalmers has his heart in the right place, he genuinely wants to make Kingston a better city for everyone. But, I’m concerned that with Barrie as Mayor, our city will fall off the forward progression track. Barrie’s recent announcements regarding tax cuts have left out a vital component of a successful Council, the other 12 votes. If Council is behaving (not vote swapping), it operates as a democracy, not a dictatorship. Barrie, you can say you have some ideas for budget savings, you can say you’d like a review of the budgeting process, you can say you’ll work hard to look for tax savings opportunities, but you can’t promise property tax cuts without collaborating with the other 12 votes and city staff. Regarding his tax plan, axing the Lake Ontario Park renovations after the planning effort put in by city staff and residents would be irresponsible, especially since we haven’t seen the newest plan. LOP needs a facelift, and Portsmouth District needs better city investment in Parks and Recreation, maybe we don’t need to spend $4.6 million, but we do need something. Nothing against you Barrie, you’re a good guy, I just don’t think you’d fit in my Utopian Council. Local Food Solutions Video Part 1 Local Food Solutions Video Part 2 Barrie’s Behind the Ballot Video

If I visit Mark Gerretsen’s website, read the local paper and watch his videos as an uninformed voter, I can see the appeal. He has the ability to generate campaign funds, evident by his large campaign office, professional website, copious signs, and newspaper ads. Mark also has a small army of volunteers working on his behalf. You don’t get this kind of support unless people believe in you. The question you have to ask yourself as a voter is whether he can lead us forward, bring us together, encourage public input and collaborate with Council. Having watched Mark lose his temper at Council meetings, bicker with peers, even trying some finger pointing during Cogeco’s live debate, I don’t think he’s got the leadership skills needed to manage a cohesive Council. I try to picture Mark in the Mayor’s seat, all I get are visions of head butting and fist pounding. Unfortunately for Mark, I have managed to stumble across a number of people in Portsmouth District during the past few months who felt jilted with their Councillor. Tenants who claim he’s an unfair landlord, and residents who needed help but got no response from Mark. I didn’t look for these people, I kept tripping over them. If Mark wins this election, I think the status quo will remain for another 4 years, we won’t fall backwards, but we won’t move forwards either. I also wonder how Kingston would be able to make progress with the province with Mark’s dad in the MPP seat, wouldn’t there be a conflict of interest? Local Food Solutions Video Part 1 Local Food Solutions Video Part 2 Mark’s Behind the Ballot Video

Rob Matheson will get my vote. We have the potential of choosing an incredible Council in this election, there’s a real possibility of getting some great minds working together on the city’s issues. I’m not convinced that Rob will be a strong leader, more likely, he’ll blend in with the 12 Councillors, encourage collaboration and public input. The city will move forward, and issues will be addressed because Rob will let Council and city staff do their jobs, this is the role of a good leader. There won’t be nearly as much fighting and time wasting during Council meetings either. I can even see the possibility of Councillors all being friends with Rob’s guidance. The rest of us will have our voices heard, and we’ll be encouraged to participate in city initiatives. Rob speaks much more eloquently than Mark or Barrie, and would be a better image for new businesses and tourists. Choosing Rob Matheson for Mayor is the right decision for the future of the City of Kingston.Local Food Solutions Video Part 1 Local Food Solutions Video Part 2 Rob’s Behind the Ballot Video

How will the vote turn out? I think it’s anyone’s guess at this point. At the beginning of the campaign, I was told by many that the vote would be a coronation for Mark, but Rob has blossomed, Barrie’s tax cut promise is appealing to many voters, and there’s always John. Here’s a few online indicators that might give us a clue to the final results.

What this district really needs is a mediator to help them find a sense of community. The students versus other residents situation needs to be resolved from both sides. Can’t we all just get along? And the election campaigns in this district need a do over. The other thing this district needs is better advertising on the city’s website – “Residential – some student housing, some high rise, high density”, that’s the best you could do?

I’m almost hesitant to write about Jim Neill, but, he was nice enough to let me tag along a couple times while he was knocking on doors. I prefer campaigns that focus on discussing the candidate’s vision for the future, and solutions they’d like to implement. I’m not so keen on campaigns based on bashing the other guy. I’m sure Jim has ideas, endearing qualities, great civic mindedness, but the thing I’m going to remember about Jim’s campaign is that he slung a lot of mud. See this blog entry and this one as examples. We don’t need another Council with people who can’t get along with others, we need leaders on Council who can take the high road. Jim’s Video

I haven’t heard any mud slinging from Ed Smith, only defensive manoeuvring in response to accusations. I don’t know if it’s any different when I’m not around; he had an opportunity to throw a fews shots in response to one of Jim’s tactics, but Ed chose to take the high road and present the facts, see for yourself.

When I first embarked on this adventure, someone told me that Ed was going to run for Mayor. In our interview, he did tell me he considered the idea, but he enjoys the Councillor position and wanted to continue making things happen for Williamsville District. Ed says the biggest concern he hears from residents is whether they’re getting good value for their tax dollar. If re-elected, Ed says he will continue to be prudent when it comes to fiscal management, and he will continue to try and create opportunities for new businesses and jobs to increase our tax base. Since an issue came up just before my meeting with Ed, I asked him when a Councillor should declare a Conflict of Interest. Ed’s response was “we were elected to represent our districts and the city of Kingston as a whole so we shouldn’t be avoiding voting on issues”. Ed says the Municipal Act guidelines are that a pecuniary interest has to be declared if there would be a financial gain or loss for the Councillor. I’ll trust him, I’m too tired to look it up to confirm. Ed’s Video

The district is pretty full, we’re not likely to see much more development in this area, except maybe on a little chunk of land at Collins Bay Penitentiary. Actually, a little birdie told me that the federal government is going to try and do some face saving by renting out the prison farm land to farmers. How long do you suppose that situation will last? I think development on the prison farm land is inevitable as long as we have a Conservative federal government. Whoever is elected as Councillor for Lakeside District will have to be a champion for preserving the land for agricultural purposes. Once we plunk down a building, we can’t change our mind and grow food on it down the road. Given the current global food crises, we should be doing everything possible to develop local food sources.

I’ve been delaying writing about Lakeside District because I was hoping Mark Bain and I could connect, we fell victim to phone tag. He seems like an interesting candidate, and presented himself very well at the Kingston Art Council Debate, so I was holding out. Alas, on the eve of voting day, I give up. p.s. Mark and I have finally connected, we’ll be meeting post election once we both recover. Mark’s Video

The only show tune singing curler running for re-election, Dorothy Hector impressed me long before I realized she was a Councillor when we curled at the same club. Her military officer background, combined with experience working with United Nations in various capacities gives her the logistical skills necessary to understand operation costs, budgeting, and planning. According to Dorothy, there isn’t a decision made at the city level that doesn’t affect taxes, traffic, infrastructure and recreation and open spaces; she says you absolutely have to understand their interconnection to be an effective Councillor. There’s a very important, key thing that Dorothy and I agree on, Geographic Information Systems (GIS). “This is the most valuable tool an organization can have to give you a comprehensive understanding of what you have”, says Dorothy. I agree! Lack of data has been one of my biggest barriers in trying to understand how the city operates. How can Council make a decision about transit if they don’t know where their riders are? If re-elected, Dorothy will push to ensure Kingston develops a strong GIS system, and she’ll help staff and Council start using it as a critical tool for solving problems.

The other subject Dorothy is going to work on post election is developing a plan for social housing. With a plan, Council can make quick and justified decisions when opportunities arise, unlike what happened with Barriefield. Dorothy feels that it’s important for Councillors to be available during business hours to go to announcements, meet potential new companies, and address resident’s concerns with city staff. She said “whoever wants the job has to have the time to sacrifice, you have to really want to be in the service of people”. A little known fact about Dorothy is that she’s a fabulous artist! Her elephant sketch is incredible, ask her to show it to you sometime. Dorothy’s Video

Doug Cameron has an interesting take on being Councillor, he’s not looking to be a politician, he just wants to make an impact on the city and take his turn in service to the public. He thinks Council needs people from the community with different skills to each take their turn for a term. If elected, Doug would like to focus on developing things that enhance people’s quality of life that don’t cost them a lot to use, like beaches, small community pools and outdoor skating rinks. He’d like Council to get away from spending on large capital projects that don’t give a lot back to residents. For example, Doug’s family of five could spend a good chunk of money watching the Frontenacs, or spend a couple hours playing hockey together at a local ice rink. Doug says the free family time things are what help contribute to children’s development and a family’s quality of life.

As an economist, Doug would like investigate and identify possible barriers that may be holding back new business development. He would like to send the message out that we’re open to better business, and create PR that convinces new companies that they just have to come to Kingston. Doug also promises to work hard to ensure the prison farm lands aren’t squandered. Doug’s Video

I owe Joan Jardin an enormous apology! Sorry Joan! The first edition of the Lakeside District write up went out without her information, I did write it, but somehow in my sleep deprived push for the finish line, it didn’t make it to print. Here it is:

As a high school teacher, Joan Jardin tries to get kids to understand how the decisions they make impact their environment, she’d like adults to understand this as well. “We have to put our money where our mouth is and realize everything has an affect”, said Joan. Speaking about the future of the prison farm lands, Joan supports Ted Hsu’s vision of enhancing the agricultural land to create learning opportunities for students, by adding investment in alternative energies to the property. She thinks working with Queen’s and St Lawrence students, we can develop concepts and test applications for alternative energy systems, and make an investment of real jobs at the prison farm. Joan thinks there’s also an opportunity to bring tourism dollars to the site if we can get systems in place that are at the forefront of technology. No matter what is in store for the lands, Joan vows to ensure that any expansion has no impact on the Cataraqui watershed.

Regarding the inevitable increase in electricity prices, Joan would like to find better ways to build houses to reduce energy dependancies. Things like the direction the house is facing with respect to the sun, and the type of trees that are planted nearby all have an impact on energy consumption. If elected, Joan would like residents to get more involved, and be part of the decision making process. She thinks that if people feel like they have a say, feel like their input is desired, and are invited to the discussion, people will eventually take up the invitation. Joan’s view on Kingston is that “we’re generally healthy, and have a good culture. We just need to promote what we have in Kingston and not reach for the bottom.” Again, please accept my apologies Joan, I didn’t mean to leave you out of the discussion. Joan’s Video

What can be done? Well, we could build a bridge, councillor candidates Ryan Boehme, Richard Moller, and Brian Reitzel are in favour of this, Carsten Sorensen is not. But, I think we should consider another option (no, not a ferry Kevin)….

What about partnering with Bombardier and offering to be their test city for light rail solutions? This option has been mentioned to me a couple of times in various formats, I think it’s a good one. It may cost more per kilometre to build the rail system, but think of the cars we could get off the roads, supporting our goal to be Canada’s most sustainable city. We’d save hundreds of thousands in environmental related health care costs, road maintenance and bus system expansions. The Federal and Provincial governments haven’t been shelling out bucks for bridges, but they have already set a precedence for a small light rail system in Waterloo. Construction begins in 2012 and will be open by 2014. Oktoberfest 2014 here I come!

If we’re to be a senior friendly town, this solution makes perfect sense. Eventually seniors have to think about giving up their cars, and finding other modes of transportation. Light rail cars are typically easy to get on to, usually the rail car is directly in line with the platform, no steps, unlike with buses. When I lived in Virginia, we used Washington, D.C.’s Metro system all the time, my kids loved the extra freedom of movement a rail car gives versus a bus. We could start our system by creating a Wolfe Island hop, solving two problems at once. And imagine what the message would be to outside companies looking for a home. Kingston is progressive, green, people friendly and open for business!

I’m excited about this idea, and could go on for pages about the possibilities, benefits and ways to overcome the barriers, but you want to know about the candidates… contact me if you want to get together over a brew and hash out a proposal for the new city council to consider.

On to my Aslan, Richard Moller. This guy is crazy smart! Really, I bet his IQ is off the charts. He’s a quiet sort, full of wisdom, sharing it when he needs to, but not the kind of guy who talks to hear himself speak. Richard has a calming presence, if you know me, you’d recognize that’s hard to accomplish. I think this is why he reminds me of Aslan, the beard helps too.

From his experience with the Canadian Consortium for Asian Pacific Security, Richard would bring an ability for Council to think strategically instead of focusing on minute details. He thinks staff should receive clear direction from Council, and be supported so they can implement Council’s vision. He would like budgets to stay within current amounts (or less) with only cost of living increases if necessary. To support downtown businesses, Richard wants to look at how to get more people living downtown. (Someone heard you Richard, they’re filling the hole!) Richard is in support of the 4 pillars of sustainability (economic, environment, social and culture) and says that any project considered should address at least 2 of these pillars. He recognizes that no one pillar is more important than the others. Richard had a great analogy likening communities to a ship – economy is the engine, environment is the hull, culture is the living conditions, and social is the ship’s bridge. If you take away any one of the components of the ship, it won’t function. Ask Richard about this analogy, he tells it better than I do. Oh! Ask to see his artwork too! It’s fantastic! Richard’s Video

The best cheerleader for our city from the councillor candidate pool is Ryan Boehme. He LOVES Kingston! I wrote about Ryan in Three Amigos (start at the 4th paragraph), so I’ll let you read that and point you towards Ryan’s Video

Brian Reitzel and I have already chatted about the possibility of partnering with Bombardier to build a light rail system, in fact, he brought up the topic, so I know we have at least 2 votes in favour. Brian says that 98% of the people he speaks with in Pittsburgh District are in favour of a third crossing. Regarding the much needed improvement to services in the district, Brian pointed me to the land use map. There’s no commercial space available! In order to add a much needed post office, and perhaps a larger grocery store, the first step has to be to rezone land for commercial use. How is it possible that Pittsburgh District has grown this big without any additions of commercial lands?

According to Brian, there’s lots of room available in Pittsburgh District for affordable housing, in fact, he welcomes it. He did however agree with the decision to not build in Barriefield. Brian would like to see Barriefield Village linked with Fort Henry and included as a tourist stop. Regarding property taxes, Brian would like the city to implement zero-based budgeting, a system that’s used with the LCBO. Using this system, spending should be more justified, and managers are held more accountable, and we might even find some tax savings. Brian’s Video

Carsten Sorensen, you don’t support the third crossing, but what if it was in the form of a rail bridge with room for a bike and walking path? Come on, you know you want to! I bet we could get Brian to buy us both a beer to discuss the idea As a Councillor, Carsten would like to implement some other solutions to address traffic concerns. He said there’s too many cars with only the driver, and he thinks with the increase in social media, car pooling will improve. He would also like CFB Kingston to consider setting up a shuttle service for it’s employees like KGH does. Carsten and I also discussed encouraging commercial development through land zoning, he would like to have a commercial buffer built between the St Lawrence Business Park and the houses in Greenwood Park.

Regarding taxes, Carsten would first like residential zoning changed to allow all single family homes the option of hosting an apartment to help them pay property taxes and increase the supply of apartments in our city. He doesn’t feel that we can successfully get the Payment in Lieu of Taxes rate increased and suggests instead, increasing the utility rate for non-assessed buildings to be closer to the residential rate, and re-evaluating non-assessed building. He cites the OHIP building as an example of a non-assessed building that isn’t owned by any level of government which should instead be paying property taxes. Good ideas Carsten!

Based on the number and quality of candidates vying to represent Cataraqui District, one has to think that there’s something special about the North end. What are all these candidates fighting for? Money! Cataraqui District produces a significant portion of our tax dollars. I know, I bet you thought they were all do gooders wanting to help some of the less fortunate residents in Rideau Heights. This district hosts a significant portion of commercial and industrial businesses, as well as close to 10,000 residents.

So, who do we have running? Two former Mayoral Candidates; one of whom is also a former Councillor, three former councillor candidates, and a political newcomer (sort of). Like I’ve done in other districts, I’m going to by-pass the one non-candidate. Has anybody seen Thomas Dall since he filled out his nomination forms? From what I’ve heard, finding Thomas is equivalent to playing ‘Where’s Waldo’. It’s possible that he’s created a transporter and has gone on an adventure, he’s no where to be found according to my sources and the local media. Maybe he’ll let me borrow the transporter to go on a mini vacation post election.

I was trying to help my parents, who are Cataraqui District residents, decide who to vote for from the other 5 candidates. It’s a tough call, there’s such a range of personalities, and strengths and weaknesses, I think it’s anybody’s guess how things will turn out. There’s no definite front runner like in some other districts. In 2006 only 2413 votes were cast, split between 3 candidates with the majority of votes going to Sara Meers. With the increase in population in the district, I expect the number of votes cast will be higher, but split in 6 (it’s always possible that Thomas will get votes), I think we’re going to see a very close race.

This is Pat Foley’s second attempt at the Councillor position. Pat thinks that getting affordable housing built, and built well, should be the city’s biggest priority. He wants to ensure that the housing we do build are places that people would want to live, he’d do this by first surveying the needs of people who currently live in social housing to find out what they feel is needed. In order to attract new business, Pat feels that we need to make the land allocation and rezoning processes easier. One of the other areas that should be reviewed, in Pat’s opinion, is the the city’s taxi services. He would like to mandate installing video recorders in all cabs to improve driver’s safety, and have each cab company paint their cars the same colour to improve their image to city visitors.

Having grown up in Kingston, Pat remembers when the city had 20 minute transit service, he would like our current system improved and would like to see about decreasing the cost of bus passes. Currently an adult pass is $65 per month, and senior’s is $44. Pat and I work in similar fields (yes, I actually do have a badly neglected day job) and kept deviating the interview to ‘geek talk’. (Apologies to Pat’s wife for keeping him out so late!) I expect that regardless of the election outcome, Pat and I will be doing more geek talking as it seems like our companies, and personalities, compliment each other very well. As a candidate, Pat is the least controversial in Cataraqui District, he doesn’t represent any special interest groups or political parties. Patrick’s Video

Former Mayoral candidate Jeffrey Lowes is this election’s best bleep disturber. I mean that in the absolutely best way possible. Jeffrey asks THE BEST questions of all the candidates in any district. He’s critical, analytical and investigates the answers to his questions to the nth degree. He’s also extremely resourceful, and networks like a presidential machine. I know some people don’t like his tactics, but I think sometimes they’re needed to shake up the status quo. At the Kingston Arts Council All Candidates Debate, the questions the candidates were supposed to answer were skewed towards supporting the Arts and the new Cultural Plan (as was the audience). Then in walks Jeffrey with a giant calculator, questioning how he’s going to convince residents who can barely feed themselves to pay higher taxes to support the proposed spending in the Cultural Plan. Despite the snide comments from other candidates, I thought it was one of the best performances and biggest risks taken (considering the audience) during this election campaign.

During our interview, Jeffrey left me with more questions than information about himself. He questioned whether business in the Division / 401 area was artificially increasing because of the temporary closures of the 401 service stations. He wondered how Council justified tax increases when he and I both know that the city’s current statistical information is sad at best. And Jeff questioned how we can encourage an increase in jobs without also ensuring the people who can take the jobs have adequate housing, child care and transportation. Jeff even gave me a lesson in investigative question asking, to my amusement. Jeff’s Video

The other Jeff running in Cataraqui District, and newcomer to municipal politics is Jeffrey Welsh. Discussing the group Community Response to Neighbourhood Concerns (CRNC), and activities at the Wally Elmer Community Centre, Jeff seemed very in tune with the needs of Cataraqui residents. He would like community groups to take on projects and run with them instead of only relying on city staff. Since Jeff was involved in developing the Cultural Plan, I challenged him on the lack of full representation in the plan. He agreed and said despite attempts by consultants to contact 1200 various community representatives, response from some groups was poor. He agreed that the city needs to do a better job of not only reaching out to all groups in our communities, but encouraging their participation as well.

Welsh feels that the city hasn’t been developing affordable housing because there were so many other capital projects which were viewed as more desirable or more immediately necessary. Since we have the funds, and it’s within our mandate, he says, “it’s simple, you just have to do it”. If elected to Council, Welsh thinks the first priority should be a thorough discussion and agreement about how to prioritize further capital funding going forward. He also says we need to identify what we can seek in terms of financing help and time future projects accordingly. Jeff’s other priority is to deal with the embarrassing number of brownfields along Montreal Street. Jeff’s Video

How do you write about a man who doesn’t need an introduction? Former Councillor, former NDP candidate, and twice over former Mayoral candidate, Rick Downes and I didn’t manage to connect during his councillor candidate campaign. I did speak with him when he was a Mayoral candidate for this election, but when he removed himself from that race, I recycled my notes. So what to tell you? I’ve got nothing the local papers haven’t told you. Sorry Rick, I’m under a rough deadline, and way behind. Here’s the link to a couple of articles: The Whig Kingston This Week and Rick’s Video

And finally, the last Cataraqui District candidate, Moe Royer. I’ve already written about Moe, see Yo, yo, yo my name is Moe. There’s really not much that I can add, I think it’s a solid review of his background and goals. Moe did show a significant amount of patience and persistence trying to arrange a meeting with my dad. After they finally did meet, my dad said “Moe was forthright and showed a very good knowledge of the issues within his district. If he shows action rather than elocution he’ll have my vote”. Moe’s Video

Good Luck to all!