Ward 2 By-Election Candidate Survey

I support Vision Zero and the City should implement a city-wide reduction in speed limits as a starting point.

Many intersections in Ward 2, such as Brock & Sandwich [...] are decade(s) beyond their life cycle, leaving the roadway network in critical condition. How will you advocate for road repairs in the Ward, and what changes should be made to the existing infrastructure?

As part of the Gordie Howe Community Benefit Program, Brock and Sandwich Street was just rebuilt last year. Other intersections, traffic signals, side streets, sidewalks that maybe beyond their expected life require the city to conduct repairs as needed.

There is a 10-year capital infrastructure plan and Asset Management Plan that articulate the city’s infrastructure deficit already in place that in theory tackle the worst locations first. The fact that these intersections and streets are in poor state of repair is the result of a generation of underfunding. This does not get fixed overnight but I will advocate for a range of road and other infrastructure repairs across the ward.

Windsor continues to see visible homelessness and housing precarity. What concrete steps would you take to ensure residents experiencing homelessness have access to safe, stable, and supportive housing? Which programs or partnerships should be prioritized first?

There are very few concrete steps the City can take in the short term of the remainder of this council term to measurably tackle these issues. The city just invested several millions of dollars into the renovation of Waterworld for additional space while City Council will receive a report about potential land for a future H4 and the Mission hub by the end of the year (from my understanding).

I think the whole plan needs to be rethought. Simply building a “mega shelter” somewhere in the City will not solve our challenges, just shift them from Downtown to somewhere else. There is no plan for a neighbourhood impact assessment or mitigation or a community benefit agreement that could potentially offset the burden of this new facility on the surrounding community or existing residents.

I think we need to shift the plan to a more decentralized model. The City of Toronto for example is building 20 new shelters across the city rather than a handful of larger shelters. This model lessen the critical mass of concentrating unhoused individuals in a single location, that then results in spillover effect (perceived or actual) on the surrounding neighbourhood.

Recent CBC reporting from Toronto has shown has transitional housing reduces ER Wait Times and save money. We should be building smaller more strategic housing units and empowering existing providers to expand their services in limited and scalable ways – 4 units here, 6 there. Use these small projects to build momentum, test programs and services and build community confidence.

I will advocate to the police board to have more patrols in certain areas. It’s a shame the provincial government is looking at banning photo radar as this would have been a great tool in certain areas. We need to continue installing traffic calming measures like speed bumps to control speeders. We need to do better as a city controlling this out of control issue.

Many intersections in Ward 2, such as Brock & Sandwich [...] are decade(s) beyond their life cycle, leaving the roadway network in critical condition. How will you advocate for road repairs in the Ward, and what changes should be made to the existing infrastructure?

I will use my voice in council to ensure Ward receives its fair share of infrastructure dollars in the coming budget. For far too long we have been a political afterthought and I will not stand for that. With the Gordie Howe International Crossing opening in the short term we need to improve the infrastructure throughout Ward 2 to ensure we are open for business with what could be a sudden increase in local tourism.

Windsor continues to see visible homelessness and housing precarity. What concrete steps would you take to ensure residents experiencing homelessness have access to safe, stable, and supportive housing? Which programs or partnerships should be prioritized first?

I don’t think there is an easy answer to this question, this is something that will take years to work through unfortunately. The city does not have the budget to fix this problem but we can plan for the future. I have a 10-15 year plan to help this situation, I believe we should build a new H4 hub in the area of the new hospital. We could increase the number of beds and services to help people get on the right track. We could even partner with the hospital to ensure that there are medical services offered at the shelter to take the burden off our emergency rooms. In the short term I would advocate to the provincial and federal governments to receive more funding to expand our current facilities.

Publicly available high quality live streams with backups at major intersections could use social pressure to bully bad drivers and socially shame them.

Many intersections in Ward 2, such as Brock & Sandwich [...] are decade(s) beyond their life cycle, leaving the roadway network in critical condition. How will you advocate for road repairs in the Ward, and what changes should be made to the existing infrastructure?

As traffic moves to the Gordie Howe from the Ambassador, roads can be evaluated for their new use cases and potential need for traffic calming solutions as well as consideration for bike lanes and green spaces along Huron Church.

Windsor continues to see visible homelessness and housing precarity. What concrete steps would you take to ensure residents experiencing homelessness have access to safe, stable, and supportive housing? Which programs or partnerships should be prioritized first?

I believe that models of long term care homes can be applied to those facing homelessness. Its hard enough for people in their 20s to find stable careers and I believe the most important step in community housing is efficiently and safely supporting people as they are and not expecting them to meet certain goals or expectations to continue to receive support. Those who are suffering from substance use issues should be provided access to safe clean drugs with no expectation to rehabilitate, though there should always be access to treatment and support.

The city should survey every community independently to identify areas that need immediate attention for traffic calming measures. Audits should be performed to confirm concerns and assess the urgency of each concern through metrics like school zones, residential, etc. From there, we can gauge which reactionary measures best fit each concern.

Many intersections in Ward 2, such as Brock & Sandwich [...] are decade(s) beyond their life cycle, leaving the roadway network in critical condition. How will you advocate for road repairs in the Ward, and what changes should be made to the existing infrastructure?

Ward 2 has some of the oldest infrastructure in the city. I would advocate to prioritize roads posing immediate safety risks. I also believe investing in preventative maintenance should be done to preserve the areas that can hold on for a bit longer.

Windsor continues to see visible homelessness and housing precarity. What concrete steps would you take to ensure residents experiencing homelessness have access to safe, stable, and supportive housing? Which programs or partnerships should be prioritized first?

Providing increased funding to the local organizations who have already been putting in the work to address these issues should be top priority. Transitional housing, mental health services and community programs provide a landing pad and support system for vulnerable people needing to get back on their feet. My understanding is that a lot of the funding for these programs would rely heavily on provincial funding as well, but the city needs to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to addressing these issues.

Typical of the municipality to set up a plan and not follow up to implementation. I will address this as one of my first actions. We spend too much and time and money on consultants on these type of plans that never come to fruition.

Many intersections in Ward 2, such as Brock & Sandwich [...] are decade(s) beyond their life cycle, leaving the roadway network in critical condition. How will you advocate for road repairs in the Ward, and what changes should be made to the existing infrastructure?

I will ensure that during the budget period that Ward 2 gets it's fair share of infrastructure. We have been left behind over the years cause of a rift between the Mayor and former councillor.

Windsor continues to see visible homelessness and housing precarity. What concrete steps would you take to ensure residents experiencing homelessness have access to safe, stable, and supportive housing? Which programs or partnerships should be prioritized first?

I've outlined my plan for the homelessness and H4. I would like to see a partnership with Windsor Regional Hospital - Ouellette Campus wherein the hospital provides rooms or a wing of the hospital to the homeless people. It's been well documented that the homeless attend the ER sometime over a period of time. Instead of discharging them back to the streets I'd like to see them given a room with a bed and the ability to have a shower. In addition this would give the hospital to introduce them to a mental health expert and addiction resources. Hopefully with this plan we can provide the care they require and have them set up for a future that does not include living on the streets.

More speed alert screens should be established.

Many intersections in Ward 2, such as Brock & Sandwich [...] are decade(s) beyond their life cycle, leaving the roadway network in critical condition. How will you advocate for road repairs in the Ward, and what changes should be made to the existing infrastructure?

I will summon donations for repair funds. The the major donators can have their name added into the name of the street.

Windsor continues to see visible homelessness and housing precarity. What concrete steps would you take to ensure residents experiencing homelessness have access to safe, stable, and supportive housing? Which programs or partnerships should be prioritized first?

Most homelessness comes from drug addiction and mental health diseases. I strongly support building free mental health hospital beds to help people in need.