My Priorities
My platform is not exhaustive, please contact me if you have any suggestions!
Housing
Affordability
Expand non-market housing options and explore options for subsidizing it. Increase the variety of types of housing available in Sidney, to provide residents with options based on their stage of life or financial position.
Work with partner organizations
Support and encourage non-profits who may be interested in building affordable housing in Sidney.
Tenant Protection
Support expanding the Tenant Protection Bylaw to include all purpose-built rental buildings. Explore creating a Standards of Maintenance Bylaw for purpose-built rental buildings.
Explore options to simplify the process of building housing for small, local builders
Building housing currently requires an expensive process of negotiation with staff on individual projects, and the uncertainty of whether or not it will be approved until after significant investment. Small, local builders often don't have the resources to afford this and may choose instead to sell to large developers with no stake in our community. By finding ways to simplify the process, it will increase the variety of housing options, lower the cost, and support the local economy.
Transportation
More accessible parking spaces around town, including in residential areas, to make life easier for people with disabilities.
Require all road work to include design elements to improve safety for all road users, especially accessibility improvements to sidewalks and crosswalks such as tactile pads at conflict points.
Require a bike valet service for all large events to encourage active transportation, reduce emissions, and reduce traffic impacts around events.
Implement the Active Transportation Plan following best practices such as those in the BC Active Transportation Design Guide to give residents and visitors the freedom to choose the best mode of transportation for a given trip.
Advocate for increased public transit service to and within Sidney to make transit a fast, frequent, reliable choice.
Climate Change
Require solar power in new developments to lower the cost of living and increase our energy independence.
Encourage community gardens, boulevard gardens, and update bylaws to encourage native meadow yards. All to better connect people to the land and increase food security.
Protect our shorelines when reviewing developments by prioritizing natural flood mitigation measures (soft shore interventions).
Strengthen the Tree Preservation Bylaw to require replacement trees to be a species that will grow to provide the same canopy coverage as those lost during development.
Homelessness
Reduce displacement caused by redevelopment
Look for areas where multifamily zoning can be gently expanded to avoid limiting development to places where multifamily housing already exists. This would aim to reduce the displacement of tenants from older housing which is often the most affordable housing in town.
Establish a permanent Extreme Weather Response Shelter
Work with non-profit partners to ensure our most vulnerable residents always have a warm place to go on the coldest nights of the year.
Good Governance
Transparency and clear communications from local government is critical so residents can engage effectively, and to reduce fear created by misinformation spread on social media. One of the ways this could be achieved is with clearer explanation of the timeline for municipal processes as projects come up. Another way is ensuring that construction drawings are made available online for major developments and all changes to streets. Artist sketches should be included as early as possible to give a street-level view of what to expect.
Create a Council decisions dashboard for the Town's website so residents can easily see how members of Council have voted on past motions. This would provide greater insight into the work Council is doing, and help residents make informed decisions during elections.
Reduce operational spending, for example the use of expensive motor vehicles, and explore options to use more fiscally responsible options such as electric cargo bicycles or other micro-mobility devices where possible.
I will always be open to meeting with anyone who wishes to discuss any concerns they have, and promise to be responsive to emails and calls.