Elections are more than just a popularity contest. The people we elect make decisions that directly impact our community. This is particularly true in municipal government where the person you vote for is independent, a party of one. Governing involves being nimble and being able to respond to the unexpected, but it’s still important to have a plan. Anyone running for office should be able to identify a few priorities and what they hope to achieve. On this page you’ll find some of what I will work on with you over the next four years. Dartmouth, we do great things together!
Housing:
The last few years have been extremely difficult when it comes to housing and homelessness in HRM. We’re facing two related crisis, one around supply and the other around homelessness. We’re all in the same storm, but we’re not all in the same boat. On the supply side, vacancy rates are essentially zero, which means too many people are having a tough time finding a place to live and are spending too much of their household income on housing, stressing their finances. Planning is one of HRM’s core responsibilities and HRM has already done a lot of work over the last four years to increase the permitted market supply of housing by removing overly restrictive zoning, and regulating short-term rentals, but more needs to be done:
- Complete the Suburban Plan to bring predictability and certainty to development in the suburbs, like what already exists in urban core thanks to the Centre Plan
- Ensure that the redevelopment of Mic Mac Mall, the last Centre Plan Future Growth Node in District 5 without an approved plan, is developed as a complete community with new public space that adds to the existing neighbourhood
- Pursue no net loss provisions to ensure privately-owned affordable housing isn’t lost during redevelopment. This will likely need amendments to Provincial legislation to do
- Lobby the Province to amend the building code to remove barriers to missing middle housing
The other side of the housing crisis is around homelessness. We need to recognize that some people will never ever find a home in the for profit housing market, no matter how many units are built. Unfortunately, the Provincial government stopped building non-market housing in the 1990s. We have essentially the same supply of non-market housing units today that we did 30 years ago, but the population of HRM has grown by almost 200,000 over that same time period. Much of our current homelessness crisis stems from this. We’re not going to ever have a healthy housing market without significant investment in non-market housing. We need to work with the Province to significantly increase the non-market housing supply and ensure that the supportive services that people need are available:
- Implement inclusionary zoning
- Increase the HRM tax relief available to non-profits that provide affordable housing and enhance HRM’s grant program
- Continue to dedicate surplus municipal land for affordable housing
- Return responsibility for building public housing to HRM, provided HRM and the Province can reach an agreement on how to fund the change of responsibility
- Continue HRM’s compassionate approach to dealing with unhoused residents who have no choice but to live outside because of inadequate Provincial services
- Continue to support the Province as they seek to create more supportive housing spaces in HRM
- Continue to push the Province to provide the basic social services around addiction, youth in care, mental health, shelters, and income support so that fewer people end up living outside in the first place
Downtown Dartmouth:
The revitalization of Downtown Dartmouth has been amazing to see. After several difficult decades, Downtown is thriving again. We need to take advantage of opportunities to enhance Downtown’s revitalization, and provide amenities and services to support our growing community.
- Complete the next phase of the Sawmill River project and the reintegration of the Dartmouth Cove area into the rest of Downtown
- Protect the waters of Dartmouth Cove from unplanned infill through amendments to HRM’s planning bylaws
- Complete a new waterfront plan
- Support new streetscaping efforts
- Complete the Downtown Dartmouth Heritage District
- Continue to deliver the municipal concert series in Ferry Terminal Park
Mobility:
Whether you drive, take transit, walk, use a wheelchair, or ride a bicycle, you rely on infrastructure built by the municipality. How we choose to get around has a major impact on our lives and is shaped by the options we’re offered. HRM is growing at an unprecedented rate and that growth is putting a strain on our transportation system. It’s more important than ever for HRM to provide people with real choices in how they move around. We need to expand and improve transit service and get buses out of traffic and into dedicated infrastructure, and we need to connect the bike network.
- Investigate a complete redesign of Victoria Road from Highfield Park Drive to Albro Lake Road
- Complete the planning for a redesigned Alderney Drive that includes priority for buses and space for cyclists and push to get it into the capital budget
- Work with the Province to complete the planned roundabout at the dangerous Woodland-Lancaster intersection
- Finish building the Integrated Mobility Plan’s Minimum Grid of cycling infrastructure
- Continue to bring a complete streets lens to all projects and encourage street redesigns to fix problematic sections
- Connect the Harbour Trail to the Shearwater Flyer Trail
- Connect the Harbour Trail to Sullivan’s Pond through the Sawmill River project
- Advance HRM’s ambitious rapid transit plan
- Investigate the possibility of late night transit service
- Rapidly implement photo radar as soon as the Province makes it legal through the new Transportation Safety Act
Public Spaces:
As our city grows, our public spaces are becoming even more important. Folks living in apartment buildings need neighbourhood green space and our libraries and rec centres are important for health, community, and civic life. We need to take advantage of opportunities to make them and our other public spaces even better to support our growing community
- Complete a new public space plan for Lake Banook and Sullivan’s Pond and begin initiating projects
- Renovate the Alderney Gate Library
- Implement a One HRM membership option for municipal facilities (Sportsplex, Cole Harbour Place, Canada Games etc)
- Repair the Sullivan’s Pond retaining walls and take advantage of the opportunity to add lighting and path improvements
- Pursue a naturalization project for parts of the shoreline at Big Albro to reduce the frequency of beach closures and make the area less attractive for Canada Geese
- Continue to advance the planning process for a Dartmouth Museum
- Support efforts of the Back to the Sea Society to create a community aquarium in Dartmouth
- Retain the Gray Arena as a recreation facility
Environment:
Humanity is facing an existential crisis. Climate Change threatens the sustainability of our civilization. We all have a role to play in addressing this threat. HRM has a very ambitious Climate Change Plan that will require sustained political support and ongoing prioritization during budget deliberations. HRM must do its share. Close to home, we’re seeing the impacts of human activity on our lakes and Dartmouth just isn’t Dartmouth without them. They’re part of who we are. We must continue the work to restore and protect them. We need to:
- Protect and restore Dartmouth’s Lakes by completing a new watershed management plan and beginning to implement projects and initiatives identified in the plan
- Finish the planned restoration of Little Albro Lake following this September’s herbicide application to control invasive Yellow Floating Heart
- Continue to support HRM’s Lakewatchers program
- Launch a stormwater retrofit program using nature-based solutions for managing stormwater
- Implement HRM’s climate change plan, HalifACT, and continue advancing the goal of net zero municipal operations by 2030
- Support the federal government in the creation of a new national park in Blue Mountain Birch Cove
- Implement the Green Network Plan
- Launch the new urban forestry plan and push for HRM to expand its tree planting efforts
Engagement:
Being open and accessible is an important part of a councillor’s job. You can’t fix what you don’t know about and people can’t provide feedback if they don’t know what’s happening and why. Over the last eight years, I have kept an active website and newsletter to try and keep residents informed as to what’s going on in District 5 and beyond. It’s been a lot of work to write so extensively, but I have consistently heard from folks how much they value the effort and how it helps them stay informed about what’s going on in District 5. I will continue this approach. We might not always agree, but you should never have to wonder why something is happening.
- Continue sending out my monthly e-newsletter
- Continue writing a blog after each Council meeting setting out what happened from a Dartmouth Centre perspective and how I voted
- Continue holding open office hours on Friday mornings once or twice a month where anyone can drop by and have 5-10 minutes of my time, no appointment necessary
- Maintain an active social media presence
- Award 50% of District 5’s funds via participatory budgeting to give residents a direct say in how these funds are spent
Public Safety:
The last few years have posed several challenges to public safety in HRM. Social issues stemming from encampments have had impacts on surrounding neighbourhoods as the number of desperate people in survival mode in our community has increased and as economic stress has impacted others. At the same time, how we do policing is changing as people question whether all the tasks that are currently assigned to police require a police officer to address. Violent crime is down in Dartmouth, but property crime is up. HRM needs to address the root causes of crime and continue to transform how we deliver public safety. We need to:
- Have bylaw officers available 24/7
- Provide additional support for the unhoused at encampments until enough Provincial shelter space is available so that encampments in Parks aren’t necessary
- Open a sobering centre to divert people away from the traditional drunk tank approach to public intoxication
- Launch a community crisis response team that can handle calls for help. Similar programs have diverted a large number of calls that have previously involved police elsewhere including in Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, and BC