Improving Downtown

I’ve worked downtown for more than 40 years, and I’ve been quite concerned about the deterioration we’ve seen in recent years. That’s why, when I was elected in 2018, improving the downtown was one of my missions. We set up a Downtown Task Force about 18 months ago made up of organizations with a stake […]

Partnerships

You can look at almost every aspect of city operations and you’ll find some kind of partnership with a community group, a charity, another government or some other agency. We’re dependent on partnerships, which is why I often talk about the value of working together better. Our partners bring a lot to the table. They […]

Building Relationships

Building a better relationship with Indigenous Nations has been an important priority of the current council. We’ve taken several steps to do that. Some of the work involves building better day-to-day connection between councils and between senior staff. We’re looking for nuts-and-bolts projects and programs where we can advance mutual interests. We hope that as […]

Keeping Taxes In Line

No one wants to see property taxes go up. But they do. Partially, that’s because of inflation. The city’s not immune from rising costs. And partially it’s because residents want more and better services. What most people are interested in, though, is how much they’re going up When city council approved the 2022 budget, the […]

A Greener Brantford

I have to admit that when I took office in 2018, climate change was not in the top five of my priorities. I wondered what one small city in Canada could do when countries the size of China and India are still building coal-fired power plants. But I have to give credit to Coun. Cheryl […]

The Future of Transit

Thousands of people depend on Brantford transit to get to work, go to school, visit the doctor or go shopping. It’s important that we make sure our transit system meets the needs of the community. We had a wake-up call last summer when we had to cut the frequency of the bus service. A lot […]

Social Issues – Part 2

This is my second post on some of the social issues affecting the city. The first part dealt with the ways we’re helping individuals with substance abuse challenges. This post will discuss some of the other parts of the puzzle. We want to get people off the street and into some sort of housing, whether […]

Social Issues – Part 1

Homelessness. Mental health. Substance abuse. Crime. As I go door-to-door I get a lot of questions about these issues from people across the city. They want to know what the city and other levels of governments are doing about them. These are complicated and tightly intertwined problems. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. You have to […]

Housing and growth

We’ve all watched house prices soar in the last couple of years. Young families worry if they’ll ever get their own place. Their parents want to help but don’t always have the resources. Ontario – and especially our region – is growing rapidly. Brantford is a particularly attractive place to live but, unfortunately, our supply […]

Energy for the future

If you look at your latest power bill, you’ll see a new logo at the top: GrandBridge Energy. GrandBridge is a new company, created through the merger of Brantford Power, which was owned by the City of Brantford, and a company called Energy Plus, which was owned by the City of Cambridge and the Township […]

2022 Brantford Chamber of Commerce Mayoral Debate

Thank you to the Brantford Chamber of Commerce for hosting this years Mayoral Debate, in partnership with Rogers Tv. For more information about how to vote, please visit our voting page here.

Traffic Problems

In the 2018 campaign we put up a billboard in West Brant that read: “If I were mayor, you’d be home by now.” It was aimed at the traffic problems in the area and on Brant Avenue, a result of growth in West Brant. People from West Brant trying to get to work, shopping or […]

A New Hospital

The best piece of good news in many years came in March when the Ontario government announced it is committed to rebuilding Brantford General Hospital. We’ve known for years we needed a new hospital, but when the current government took power in 2018, we weren’t on the list to get one. Over the last few […]

Safe Streets

Most people want to live in neighbourhoods that are quiet and safe. But what I’m hearing at the door is that a lot of people don’t like what they’re hearing and seeing on their streets. When I’m talking to residents on major streets, many say they’re concerned about speeding, traffic violations and vehicle noise. There’s […]

Affordable Housing

When I was elected in 2018, we really didn’t have a coherent plan to develop affordable (rent-geared-to-income) housing. Brant County’s new mayor, David Bailey, had a similar concern. It’s a serious problem in Brantford and Brant. At that time, there were 1,700 clients on the waiting list. For some people it can take 10 years […]

Talking to voters

When I campaign, I put a lot of emphasis on personal contact, meeting as many residents as I can and talking to them about their issues. When you’re talking to somebody at their doorstep, you don’t get a lot of negativity. What you do get is a lot of very good questions. You hear what’s […]