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2022-2026 Commitments

• Safe Streets For All Ages and Abilities
• A Complete Housing Agenda
• Invest in Public Spaces
• Repair Existing Infrastructure
• Protecting Natural Habitats
• Safety In a Sweltering City
• Raise the Bar for Development
• Strengthen Local Economies
• Build Trust and Confidence

Safe Streets For All Ages and Abilities

When streets are designed to serve the interests of only motorists, we rob the city of wealth, better health, choice and environmental outcomes.

When streets are safer for our children and the aged, they are safer for everyone, including motorists driving to work or returning home to their families and friends.

We need to build a city for people by sharing and redesigning streets.

What is coming in 2022-2023

• The conversion of Main Street from one-way to two-way. (2023)
• A Safety audit of Main & Dundurn and King & Dundurn intersections (2022)
• Raised crosswalks for entrances to Victoria Park along Strathcona St. N and Locke St. N. (2023/24)
• Raised crosswalk and concrete bump-out for entry to HAAA and Ryerson Middle School on Charlton Ave W at Kent St(2022)
• A safer controlled crossing at Marion St. South and Longwood Ave at  Westdale Secondary School (2022)
• The Queen Street conversion from one-way to two-way extended to King St (2022)
• Multi-use trail lighting connecting Glenside and Studholme Streets through Chedoke golf course
• Starting slow street/bike boulevard pilots for Breadalbane-Jones Streets and Pearl-Kent Streets (2022)
• Installing a Glen Road and Bond Street concrete sidewalk extension (bump-out) for Cootes Paradise Elementary School (2022)
• Raised crosswalks along the Hamilton-Brantford Rail trail (2022) 
• Complete Streets and Vision zero safe street review of Strathcona and Kirkendall neighbourhoods (2023)

My future commitments

• Add electric bicycles to the Hamilton Bike Share fleet
• Enhance local policy on cycling and walking accommodations during construction that impact crosswalks, sidewalks and bike lanes
• Expand and connect active transportation networks
• Establish a Walking Advisory Committee to advise on the Pedestrian Master Plan
• Support Open Streets, modelled after the City of Pittsburgh’s – a new route on the last Sunday of each summer month – for people to walk, run, bike and explore spaces within the entire roadway
• End area rating for transit because competitive, sustainable, and successful cities have more public transit, not less
• Community consultation on future Hamilton LRT and seek to maximize community benefits
• Accelerate commitment to building out the BLAST network23

A Complete Housing Agenda

Too many Hamiltonians are unhoused, and too many people worry about housing availability and affordability. People are sleeping in parks or hiding in ravines. That is not a solution to our health and housing crisis. It is a reflection of it.

We need all communities, groups and governments to come together to address this urgent crisis. We all need to give it attention and the support that all human beings deserve

There are things I believe we can do to address the housing crisis.

Smart Use of Existing, New, or Senior Government Funds

• Earmark revenues from the new Vacancy Homes Tax for affordable housing investments.
• Create a municipal loan fund to create and preserve affordable housing units.
• Make supportive housing in Hamilton the number one funding priority for provincial and federal investment and support the ongoing work of the City’s anchor institutions to secure funding.
• Earmark revenues from selling surplus city lands for affordable housing and tie new revenue to housing policy priorities.

Fill Housing Policy Gaps

• Implement inclusionary zoning along the Hamilton LRT and around GO stations. Inclusionary zoning secures affordable units in new private-sector housing development.
• End exclusionary zoning which restricts missing middle density in neighbourhoods to single-family housing.
• Pursue a renter displacement study with community partners to uncover the rate of residential tenant eviction notices and what factors combine to cause renter displacement. Use study results to inform policy actions.
• Support a housing first policy when it comes to identifying and assessing the use of city-owned surplus lands.
• Support using surplus city land in partnership with non-for-profit agencies to provide affordable housing
• Pursue a permit-ready Secondary Dwelling Unit (SDU) program. This would offer property owners a selection of pre-approved SDU building plans, speed up the building process, and reduce pre-construction fees. It would also provide diverse housing options throughout Hamilton.
• Accessible, affordable transportation choices are key to housing affordability. Mobility justice is a good housing policy and good for the local economy. Invest in transit, and invest in safe cycling infrastructure and ensure safe walkability.
• Extend the new rental licensing pilot program for wards 1, 8 and parts of 14 to the entire City of Hamilton.
• Create a family-friendly housing policy to require a minimum percentage of three-bedroom units in new multi-family projects.
• Rental Housing Licensing Pilot supporting safe, humane, healthy housing.
• Support short-term rental licensing

Support our unhoused residents and neighbourhoods

• Reinstate a housing/health first encampment protocol. It should be driven by community consultation and outreach to the unhoused, the health sector, neighbourhoods and other necessary community agencies.
• Advocate for our City’s health sector to decentralize its system of care to serve unhoused residents better.

Invest in Public Spaces

COVID-19 restrictions revealed the value of public space and outdoor amenities for our health and well-being. With the closure of private amenities, more people noticed the absence of public washrooms and how much they missed joining their children or grandchildren at the park and seeing their neighbours.

What is coming in 2022-2023

• Churchill Park trail step replacement (2023).
• Churchill Park Master Plan – Phase 2 (2023).
• Churchill Lawn Bowling Club winterized accessible gender-neutral washroom (2023).
• Churchill Lawn Bowling Club accessible entrance (2024).
• Churchill Park Protective Gate Entry at Glen Rd and Parkside Drive (2022).
• Victoria Park new Splash pad and sun shelter at Victoria Park (2022).
• Victoria Park New winterized universal washrooms (2022).
• Victoria Park Multi-use court with appropriate lighting (2023).
• Victoria Park tennis courts and practice pad replacements (2023).
• Dundurn Park playground renewal (2023).
• Alexander Park Community Hub and new universal gender-neutral washrooms (2023).
• Alexander Park Skate Park (2023).
• Sanders Blvd two parklets (2022).
• Mapleside Park new junior play structure and pathway, improved drainage (2022).
• HAAA redevelopment  Phase 1 construction to start Fall 2022, Phase 2 (2024).
• HAAA Field House internal renovations and new universal gender washrooms (2023).

My future commitments

• Jackson Park half-court basketball
• Highland Gardens renewal
• Victoria Park outdoor pool renewal
• Outdoor murals at Victoria and Churchill Parks
• More native tree plantings and pollinator areas

Repair Existing Infrastructure

The roads in the lower City are falling apart due to decades of underfunding, insufficient quality controls and no strategic investment plan.

The city’s Auditor General has confirmed that Hamiltonians have not been getting value for their tax dollars. And, it’s not just our roads. It’s our bridges, traffic controls, recreation centres and our underground infrastructure.

We must have a transparent and long-term funding plan for infrastructure enhancement/ repair with more public involvement.

I am committed to:

• Investing in infrastructure backlog and maintenance, particularly as it pertains to roadway conditions that impact walking, cycling and transit
• Fixing and maintaining existing assets as a priority over roadway expansion
• Advocating for more accessible, earlier and enhanced public consultation on the City of Hamilton’s capital budget
• Reassessing and right-sizing overbuilt road capacity to realize operational and maintenance savings
• Holding the line on Hamilton’s urban boundary to eliminate future capital and operating liabilities and tax burdens.
• Adopting a Climate Emergency Screening Tool to evaluate how transportation projects align with climate mitigation and adaptation goals.

Protecting Natural Habitats

Over the past century, we have manipulated our natural creek beds and waterways, thinking there would be no consequence.
We were wrong.

By burying and rerouting creeks, we frustrated nature’s flood controls in exchange for a system of culverts that allows heavy rainfall to move quickly and directly into Cootes Paradise and Lake Ontario, picking up contaminants like metals and oils along the way.

Extreme rain events brought by a changing climate will continue to overwhelm our wastewater and stormwater system, increasing the chances of flooded basements, more sewage overflow and more contaminants entering our waterways and natural habitats.

Smart cities are responding with new approaches to land and water management. Hamilton can do the same.

I’m committed to

• Maintaining support for a firm urban boundary. Sprawl brings more impermeable paved surfaces contributing to flooding and contamination downstream.
• Introducing a stormwater financing scheme that will ensure industry, big box retail and institutions with large impermeable parking lots have an incentive to install permeable surfaces and pay their fare share for runoff into public infrastructure.
• Adopting a Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) system for water and land management. This approach copies nature to reduce the volume of rainwater entering our piping system. Bioswales in parks can hold and slowly absorb rainwater. Native tree roots create passages in the soil to hold water in place and mitigate urban heat island effects.  Daylighting or opening up parts of buried creeks can assist with flooding.
• Prioritizing the completion of the Urban Forest Strategy and advocating for more native tree planting and protection measures.
• Continuing to work with local water keepers such as the Royal Botanical Gardens, the Bay Area Restoration Council and Indigenous groups to champion the remediation and protection of Cootes Paradise and its tributaries. 

Safety In a Sweltering City

Heatwaves in Hamilton can kill or do significant harm. Right now, regulations protect tenants from freezing but do nothing about the heat—and that has to change. We must do more to protect the most vulnerable residents in our communities.

I’m committed to

• Prioritizing older urban multi-residential buildings for climate retrofitting incentives.
• Investing in shade and water features in public spaces to help cool down.
• Consulting with vulnerable populations on the City’s cooling centre locations and practices to ensure it is serving the population adequately and act accordingly.
• Support the City climate change office with adequate resources to impact our future.
• Support the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s call for the Provincial Government to designate air conditioning as a vital service, like the provision of heat in the fall and winter, for tenants in Ontario.

Raise the Bar for Development

In 2018, I campaigned in support of a firm urban boundary, and I maintained that position in 2021 because sprawl has done Hamilton no favours. It has ballooned our infrastructure deficit, added significantly to Hamilton’s annual operating budgets and was never environmentally sustainable. 

Hamilton farmers told us to stop sprawl, as did a record number of Hamiltonians. Housing development will go ahead within the serviced urban boundary to protect prime agricultural lands.

Ward 1 residents said they would like the land use planning process to be more accessible and understandable. With a firm urban boundary, this takes on particular importance as there are opportunities to provide more housing choices within existing neighbourhoods. 

We need to raise the bar for the development industry and demand better development. Too much of what is built is disposable, and “Good enough for Hamilton” is no longer good enough. If developers can build nice things outside our City, they can make it here too.

I am committed to

• Accessible language for all public planning notices, including on-site signage.
• Electronically available planning reports and studies for each development application.
• Up-to-date maps showing active development applications in each ward.
• Easy to find public schedule of all design review panel (DRP) meetings per ward. Hamilton’s DRP provides expert and impartial design advice to the City’s planning department.
• Ending exclusionary zoning to enable missing middle housing within the urban boundary.
• Developing bird-friendly development guidelines.
• Encouraging EV infrastructure in all new development.
• Applying low-impact development standards (permeable surfaces) to divert stormwater from underground pipes.
• Implementing green building standards and solar panels

Strengthen Local Economies

A shrinking labour force over the next 30 to 40 years, mainly because of our aging population, will impact Hamilton’s economy, tax base and workforce.
We must strengthen Hamilton’s ability to attract and hold on to businesses and to attract and retain workers

I will seek new and innovative ways for the city to stay competitive and grow the local economy.

I’m committed to

• Pursuing a housing strategy that enables and encourages a full range of affordable, quality housing choices throughout the city.
• Delivering better transit and more choices. Thriving, competitive cities have more transit, not less, and are walkable and cycle-friendly. Forcing car dependency adds significantly to the cost of living, can limit access to employment and diverts disposable income from local businesses. I will work to end area rating for transit, maximize the many community benefits of Hamilton LRT, accelerate Hamilton’s commitment to the BLAST network,  prioritize safe public transit and expand and connect active transportation networks. 
• Being a city that is welcoming, views diversity as a strength and is committed to creating and sustaining a culture of inclusion with no tolerance for hate will have greater success in attracting and retaining talent.
• Creating connected and accessible green spaces, treasured public parks, and a safe and clean city serve as both magnets and glue in attracting and retaining talent.
• Supporting our city’s vibrant art and culture scene, which can significantly drive workforce recruitment and retention. 
• Ensuring Hamilton is a living wage city. There is a moral and economic imperative for supporting a living wage. It is never okay for people who work full time, including our youth, to not be able to afford decent housing and to put nutritious food on their tables. Living wages reduce turnover, costs associated with retraining and recruiting, and incomes are spent locally.
• Being a city that is welcoming, views diversity as a strength and is committed to creating and sustaining a culture of inclusion with no tolerance for hate will have greater success in attracting and retaining talent. To this end, I will maintain my commitment to the City’s Hate Prevention, Mitigation and Community Initiatives Action Plan, the Urban Indigenous Strategy and the Community Safety and Well-being Plan.
• Recognize our City’s competitive advantage must be rooted in justice, care, equity, and resiliency.

Build Trust and Confidence

Trust and confidence are the most critical pillars in my platform for re-election. Without it, elected officials cannot gain public support for hard choices.
The decision of the 2014-2018 Council and this Council to keep the volume and duration of the sewage spill in Chedoke Creek from the public severed the trust of many of you in the City government. It will take hard work and time to rebuild a trust that has been lost and damaged.

Nobody is infallible. Certainly not me. I will continue to admit my mistakes and attempt to repair the damage done. I believe bold and trusted leadership is required to solve our City’s problems. I hope I have demonstrated that. I have been as transparent and as open as I can be, and that is not going to change.

I am committed to continuing to

• Provide up-to-date disclosure on all Ward 1 expenses through my website. Publish my attendance record
• Provide notice to the public if and when I will be absent from a City committee meeting
• Accept no gifts
• File no travel or meal expenses
• Publish the Ward 1 e-newsletter regularly

I am committed to

• Supporting a Ward 1 Day at Hamilton City Hall. The event will offer residents an opportunity to learn more about local government.
• Advocate for a council scorecard that will allow residents to easily access how their elected officials voted on issues before committees
• Mandate an annual report on logged resident calls to the Municipal Service Centre and ask for a review of how social media service requests are incorporated in quality control and response efforts. 
• Continue to support the value-for-money audits conducted by the City’s Auditor.