Ward 9 · London, Ontario
I’m fed up. I think you are too. It’s time to do something about it.
We need a council that listens to us, instead of rubber-stamping whatever city staff recommend. Fiscally-responsible stewards of our tax dollars. Government that does less, but does it well.
Does it shrink your tax bill? Does it leave you freer? Does it actually work? If the answer to all three isn’t yes, it doesn’t belong on the agenda.
Council voted itself almost a 40% raise for the next term. Property taxes have risen about 7.5% per year over the current term. The fix: a direct-democracy bylaw that ties councillor pay to the property tax levy. Drafted in public. Read it, suggest changes, watch the audit trail.
When the arterials flow, your neighbourhood stays quiet. We don’t need more stoplights, lower speed limits, and band-aids that push gridlock onto residential streets. Coordinate the signals. Publish travel-time data. Restore limits where there was no safety case to drop them.
Door handles pulled. Overnight car break-ins. Property invasions. Council votes the police operating budget and appoints the majority of the Police Services Board. Two real levers, used together, to put Ward 9’s break-in clusters back into the patrol rotation.
Cut a dying tree, build a backyard shed, light an evening fire. Each one needs a permit and a fee. Each one feels small. Stacked together they describe a city where the person whose name is on the deed has to ask permission for ordinary things on their own land. Government has a real role. This isn’t it.
My thoughts on Ward 9, and beyond.
A little about me
Third generation farmer and lifelong Lambeth resident.
Advocate for fitness and nutrition.
I’ve been involved in past London elections and I follow politics at every level closely.
Drop your email and I’ll send you the occasional update on new writing, what I’m hearing from Ward 9, and ways to help if you want to. No spam. No selling your info. Ever.