Campaign's End

By now you've received your mail-in voting form and may have already sent it in. It's time now to hang up my skates for this political season and give us both a break. Time to walk through the forest, enjoy the sunny weather, and watch the leaves fall.

It was a real pleasure to meet the great majority of you. Especial thanks for sheltering me from the rain in your homes and cottages. I discovered much kind consideration on the campaign trail. Maybe this shouldn't be surprising, but I never knew for sure what sort of reception would be on your side of the door.

I started on the campaign trail with an open mind and let you tell me what you wanted. Your words are quoted on this website in the Seguin Quotes section. Your words became my basic political platform:

• Clean Lakes
  
• Safe Roads
  
• Pro Business
  

If elected, I will continue our conversation with a town hall style meeting held every three months to discuss Seguin politics. I will continue to listen and learn from you. The Ward 1 town hall meeting was an idea that came out of my conversations with you. May town hall meetings be adopted by other councillors to get up-to-date feedback from their constituents. Feedback is essential to learn how to fix problems and make improvements. If this democratic tradition were established and maintained many of the problems of the past could be avoided in future.

If elected, I will continue to use this blog to communicate with you about Seguin politics. If not elected, this will be my last One Seguin blog post. Thank you for your interest.

Have a fine Thanksgiving weekend.

My Town Hall Meetings

I believe 'town hall' meetings are a very important means of creating and maintaining an active political community. It provides a forum for discussing on-going and emerging local issues.

If I am elected as Seguin's Ward 1 councillor, I will host political 'town hall' meetings in the Foley Activity Centre every three months of my term. The dates will be kept regular and advertised on this website. Admission would, of course, be free.

The town halls would include...

• An introductory 5 - 10 minute report from me about council business since the previous town hall, up-coming council meeting business, on-going issues, and emerging issues.

• A free flow discussion where people are encouraged to express their ideas or concerns about Ward 1 in particular and Seguin in general. Participants may direct their comments or questions to me as councillor, to other attendees, or simply to the group.

• The main event of each town hall will feature a specific Seguin issue for discussion - identifying problems, generating ideas, exploring options, offering solutions.

• Finally, I will do a brief wrap-up summary of what was discussed, highlighting the main points influencing my council decisions. I will still make my own decision on every issue. However, your timely facts and arguments will give me the best possible foundation on which to decide.
  

The purpose of these town halls is to provide civic interaction for all people living or cottaging in Ward 1. You will help guide my decisions in council as a direct result of the best facts and arguments provided by you, as well as consider the various viewpoints of others in our community.

This high level of civic involvement has never occurred before in Seguin. This is my style of politics.

I want people in Ward 1 to get more directly involved in Seguin's political culture. I want you to have a real forum to give voice to your opinions and ideas - not just with a single vote every four years. This is the means for us to express ourselves, listen, and hopefully learn from one another. Let's talk.

I think this is necessary and the best way forward. I hope it will become an everlasting Seguin tradition.

Campaign Platform

Nancy from Horseshoe Lake's Johnston Road gave me some good feedback this morning. This campaign blog needs to supply better details on what I intend to do if elected, what's my vision for Ward 1 and Seguin.

My whole campaign angle is about recording Ward 1 voter quotes with the intent to solve or resolve those issues during my term if elected. While my door-to-door travels are not yet finished, the following topics would be my main focus if elected.


ROAD SAFETY

This is one of those basic municipal service areas that we need to get right. This is snow removal, good gravel surface and grading, paving, appropriate signage, community safety zones, and OPP patrols.

The concern I hear most often is about speeding vehicles on roads where children play. My other big safety concern are roads (such as Ferris Road) which I feel are simply dangerous to drive on, and possibly inaccessible by emergency vehicles in winter. Let's not wait until someone dies to help solve the problems.


BUSINESS POSITIVE

This is a particular concern to almost every voter who makes a living in or around Seguin. It also heavily impacts on seasonal residents. I can't count the number of times I've heard people express the need for good jobs year round. I see the two main Seguin industries as tourism and construction. Seguin retail activity flows from the strength of tourism and construction.

I believe the Seguin sign by-law could be amended in part to better serve the tourist industry. In terms of construction, Seguin is notorious as a difficult place to work. Most constructrion people I've met simply don't like, don't want to work in Seguin. There seems to be no end of complaints about Seguin's planning and building departments in terms of red tape and permit or variance costs.

Seguin planning and building department policy has a direct impact on the prosperity of Seguin working families. I would like to help make Seguin more business positive.

If Seguin is to succeed in attracting new business to the township, I think targeting clean/green light industry with markets beyond servicing residents is a sector to focus on. By focusing on specific types of industry to attract, we can be more concentrated in our efforts, more likely to succeed.

If Seguin is notorious for radical environmental policies, why not sell its positive lifestyle aspect to clean industry, foster a live/work sustainable culture in Seguin? Make Seguin a hub for clean/green industry.

Though for the most part I believe it will continue to be the small, local business operators who provide the majority of township employment. Let's do what we can to help local business succeed.


MODERATE ENVIRONMENTALISM

I agree with much of Seguin council's efforts to preserve the natural environment in the past term. There is strong support for the shoreline tree-cutting by-law throughout the ward and the measures taken to restrict further shoreline development on at-risk lakes. The council deserves high praise for this sustainability work.

With respect to the significant change in environmental regulation in recent years, it is important to realize that culture and the environment go hand in hand. Conservation of natural environment directly impacts on existing rural culture as experienced for generations since pioneer times. The interaction of environmental protection and cultural heritage needs to be carefully considered and understood when proposing new by-laws.


TIME TO REFLECT

I think it would be wise to look back on the significant changes carried out over the last four years in Seguin, review and possibly make some minor adjustments as we assess the impacts of these changes. The Official Plan requires review every five years. This will be an opportunity to make adjustments with a view towards its improvement as it impacts the lives of people in Seguin.

As we move forward, my preference is to keep the community fully informed on proposed changes well in advance so that the best options are explored and some unintended consequences can be avoided. I prefer a slower, more conservative pace to change.


FOLEY'S NEW DEVELOPMENT

The next term will likely see both a new community centre and library structure, and possibly fire hall in Foley. I'm fully behind this initiative - it's about time. And I hope we've saved the best for last.

For what it's worth I'd like to offer my two cents on the structure itself.

To honour the pioneer Foley heritage of logging and agriculture, I think it would be fitting and a great attraction to construct the new development with a timber frame structure using local pine timber and oak pegs. These can be milled locally. And why not have skilled carpenters from the community get involved in a traditional 'barn raising' event for the main structure? I know the ladies at the Pioneer United Church would be willing to bake the pies to feed the troops.

Timber frame buildings last for hundreds of years and are infused with rich cultural meaning.

Timber frame structure (wiki source here).

And why not include sustainable building elements, such as passive solar heating design which encapsulates Seguin's 'environment first' motto? Let this building embody our strong ideals, the show piece for a progressive Seguin building with a view to its past and a sustainable future.

This is my vision for Seguin - to fulfill the promise of Seguin's 'environment first' motto.

As government has the luxury of long-term planning, let our township lead with the example of solar panels on municipal buildings. Let us explore the options for reducing carbon emissions of municipal vehicles, and many other sustainable practices open to local government.

Let's be the best we can be.

My Campaign Platform

I am a populist.

I believe in the wisdom of the people I seek to represent.

Therefore, my political campaign platform is built on the wishes of the Ward 1 voters contained in my Seguin Quotes website section.

My Promise: If elected, I will work for four years to resolve the issues presented to me by the voters as described in my Seguin Quotes. Those with the most consensus will go closer to the top of the list of To Dos. Also, matters which are more pressing, say, dealing with public safety would be dealt with before road drainage issues. But, with your name attached to a Seguin Quote, I take your words very seriously and you will hear from me personally during the course of my term on the subject of your interest.

If elected, I promise to document in text and photographs my efforts to address the issues presented to me during the campaign, actions taken, response from responsible parties, and, hopefully, positive outcomes. Because problems presented to me may place one neighbour against another, there may often be no 'right' outcome. However, I promise to address the issue and seek compromise and understanding between parties to the best of my ability.

This is the simpliest, and best idea I can think of in terms of representing a ward as councillor. It just makes sense to me. If you have any ideas of how my platform can be improved in helping people with their township problems, please e-mail me and I'll give it full consideration and maybe take it on board.

So, my platform is to give the people what they want - to the best of my ability. That's total accountability, folks.

The important thing for me to do is listen, understand, then take action. This blog will record how and why I succeed or fail.

This is my election promise. Straight and simple.