Niagara Workforce Planning Board - leave of absence

In my list of community involvement, I include that I am on the board of directors of the Niagara Workforce Planning Board.

Following the beginnings of some discussions amongst board members about the upcoming elections, I requested a temporary leave of absence. The leave of absence is effective immediately and will end on Tuesday, October 28, 2014, when I will happily return to the board table.

VoteNiagara2014.ca Response

On Monday, August 11, 2014, the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce sent a short survey to candidates who have filed to run in the October 27 municipal election. It is due on Friday, August 15, 2014.

Not running Green in provincial election

While I am extremely flattered to have been asked, here is the media release I distributed this morning regarding my commitment to St. George's Ward.

Special interest groups?

More than a few times, I've heard that I support/represent some special interest group(s), and that my support of these groups would "pollute" Council or some other such thing.

Niagara *can* be the best place to live

Thursday morning, I released my election platform. In it, I indicated that we need to do better at attracting and retaining young people. I said we need to ensure taxpayers are getting value for their dollar. I said we need to do better at engaging our citizens and building community. I said we need to work together as a city and as a region. I said I would keep these things in mind with every decision I make at the Council table.

On Thursday evening, I read this opinion column on the St. Catharines Standard's website: Niagara isn't the best place to live, by Grant LaFleche. It was based on this Money Sense article.

St. George's Ward Boundaries

As a refresher, here are two pictures that show the boundaries of St. George's Ward.

Essentially, the south side of Scott Street, to the east side of Geneva Street, to the north side of Welland Avenue/QEW/Eastchester Avenue, to the canal.

Election Platform

I hesitate to call it a "platform" because, of course, municipal politics does not work the way that provincial and federal politics do. There aren't supposed to be "party" politics at the municipal level. Councillors aren't supposed to vote on issues based on "party" affiliations (which isn't to say that it doesn't happen; just that it's not supposed to).