Niagara This Week writes about St. George's Ward

Here's Mike Zettel's piece in the Thursday, October 7 issue of Niagara This Week: http://www.niagarathisweek.com/news/elections/article/884586--back-to-basics-in-ward-3

Back to basics in Ward 3

St. George’s issues hard to define

Ward issues in St. George’s are essentially city-wide ones, say the candidates running in the Oct. 25 municipal election.

 

Unlike the well-defined areas of the city, such as Port Dalhousie, Merritton, the downtown and Grantham, St. George’s has some scratching their heads to even find it on the map.

 

The ward is in the east end of the city and is bounded by Geneva Street, Scott Street, the Welland Canal and the QEW.

 

Laura Ip, who lives right on the boundary of St. George’s and Grantham, said it’s tough to define the issues and that some residents don’t even realize they live there.

 

“They’re in St. George’s ward, and they don’t know where St. George’s is,” she said.

 

That might explain why voter turnout is typically lowest in Ward three, she said, adding there’s a stark contrast in the number of election signs on either side of Scott Street.

 

The new aquatic centre and library branch is being built here, and Ip said there’s still some upset that green space at Pearson Park is being built over for it.

 

Incumbent Greg Washuta said there’s a great deal of development potential in the east end of the ward, such as the former Ferranti-Packard site. Walmart has changed its plans to build there and will instead renovate its current location at Lincoln Mall. Washuta said the next council will have to work with the developer to make sure whatever construction occurs fits into the neighbouring community.

 

“It’s important to see it developed to its full potential,” he said.

 

Dale Millar said the concerns he’s hearing most about are the day-to-day operations of city hall. He stressed, though, that complaints are not being directed at staff but management.

 

“What the people are complaining about is the management structure behind those jobs,” he said.

 

Both Millar and incumbent Peter Secord pointed to the need to improve customer service at city hall.

 

“I’m not happy with it at this point,” Secord said.

 

He said while some issues residents come in with may be beyond the jurisdiction of city hall, staff should still offer to point them in the right direction.

 

Ip said taxes should be the top priority of the next council. And while she agrees the extensive capital projects started in the last term are important, council will need to keep an eye on their budgets.

 

“We need to be sure we’re planning for those things appropriately, so it’s worth my investment,” she said.

 

Washuta said the next council will need to have a strategic planning session as soon as possible.

 

“I think it’s very important that be initiated immediately,” he said, adding that bringing forward a transportation master plan would top his list.

 

Millar said council needs to look carefully at business development and job creation, finding out what companies need in order to be convinced to locate here.

 

“I’ve heard so many people say St. Catharines is closed for business,” he said.

 

One issue Secord would like to see on the radar is the fact that several senior staff, including the directors of planning, transportation and engineering, legal service and the CAO are all nearing retirement, and the city will need to start planning for major turnover.

 

“I don’t think many people are paying attention, but it’s going to happen,” he said. “It’s going to be something council will have to start talking about.”