Thank you for taking the time to share in my vision for the City of Pembroke!
This section will be updated throughout the campaign as more issues are announced and as I hear from local residents and we build our future together!
Affordability is a great catch phrase on the campaign trail, but what does it mean from a municipal perspective?
The City doesn't set the purchase price of goods and service, the City doesn't set wage, pension or benefit payments of its residents, and the City has no effect on the skyrocketing price of oil and gasoline or the taxes and tariffs imposed by other levels of government.
Simply put, a campaign that says it is focused on affordability has a lot of explaining to do about how it isn't just using a catchphrase to get your attention or your vote!
One of the biggest and most important aspects of being on council is the budget - a single document that sets the City's priorities,
My Budget Accomplishments:
The first priority of any municipal council must be the health, safety and security of its residents. Period.
The need for a safe community goes beyond the obvious - unsafe communities drive business away, make it difficult to recruit young professionals,
And then there is the obvious. Crime, and particularly drug and drug-related crime, in the City of Pembroke has been at unacceptably high levels for far too long. We know from Stats Canada statistics that crime rates remain at
A Health Community:
A Safe Community:
A Secure Community:
The continued economic health of the City of Pembroke requires additional growth in all sectors: residential building, commercial building and general commercial business operations.
The quickest and easiest way for a municipality to reduce the tax burden on existing residents - without implementing new fees and charges - is to
A City that is Growth and Development Focused:
Economic Development:
Building Development:
Four years I ago, I proposed implementing a program that was designed to actively promote and encourage local youth to return to the Pembroke area after completing their education. I am even more committed today to seeing this project realized!
Pembroke is losing too many of its youth to larger urban centers and it is starting to have a critical impact on the the health of the local economy and the health of our residents.
We know that bigger is not always better and the City of Pembroke (and the Ottawa Valley in general) has so much to offer - a lower cost of living, cleaner air and outdoor areas, lower housing prices and apartment rents, quick and easy access to so many activities such as whitewater rafting, Algonquin Park and more! The lure of the big cities, however, is a real interest to young people.
I continue to have the same conversations with far too many business owners, managers, professionals and community leaders who are all saying the same thing - they can't find people to fill skilled positions.
In some cases, this lack of employees is having a negative economic effect as business have to cut back shifts or operational hours because they don't have enough workers. In other cases, the effect is even more concerning when it is a shortage of medical staff, first responders and care givers. The stress on existing employees, covering for vacant positions, can be unbearable and harmful to mental health.
That is why I am proposing Operation Homeward Bound to effectively sell Pembroke to the youth of Pembroke!
This initiative will see the municipality partner with existing local businesses. The idea will be to create a hub that can match local businesses with youth that are interested in that area or field. Volunteer opportunities, summer employment, job shadowing and other relationships can be built early on between businesses and teenagers so as to hopefully develop a long-term relationship that will see the youth return to work with the business after they complete their schooling. For the business, it is a way to meet, assess and pre-train possible future hires. For the youth, it is an opportunity to see what their future career may truly look like and make for a quick job application at the end of their schooling.
The program will also look at what incentives can be offered to Pembroke youth who do commit to returning home after attending college or university. This may take the form of monetary incentives that are triggered upon their return to Pembroke, future job contracts, and more!
Now I know what many are going to say: we shouldn't have to sell our hometown to our own kids. I don't disagree. But numbers don't lie and I think many, if not most of us, know that our kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews, and classmates talk a lot about leaving or have already left. We have all been touched by this reality.
The City of Pembroke is undoubtedly one of Eastern Ontario's premier retirement localities. But the City can only work and operate effectively when all age groups are working together and when new employees are substituting for retiring employees at the same or better rate. It is time to take action!
Action Taken:
Over the last four years, I continuously raised this issue at every opportunity, including:
Encouraging residents to enjoy a healthy and active lifestyle is not just about parks and sports - it is about ensuring that the City as whole is open to residents
Active Transportation Plan:
Sportsplex:
The City of Pembroke continues to enjoy a beautiful and distinct downtown core that sets itself apart from the rest of the municipality and other commercial areas.
While Pembroke's Downtown is unquestionably beautiful and historic, like everything in the world, it needs a pick me up now and then.
Downtown Master Plan:
Integration with Algonquin Trail:
Farmers' Market Property & Victoria Street:
Safety & Security:
Financial Considerations:
It is my firm belief that when the people of the City of Pembroke come together, great things are possible!
Strengthening our neighbourhoods is one way in which the City of Pembroke can energize our local community, empower its residents, and protect our population without huge expense or drastic increases to municipal staff.
I am proposing three initial neighbourhood driven initiatives:
Community Watch:
I was a Member of the Police Services Board when Brian Abdallah first approached us to support a new initiative in the City of Pembroke - a Neighbourhood Watch-style program that would see neighbours looking out for neighbours. Since that time, Community Watch has grown to include several different zones across the City. Zones are established and headed by neighbourhood residents who volunteer their time watching out for and reporting criminal and suspicious activities to local law enforcement. Twice a year, a larger program meeting is held where residents from across Pembroke come together with municipal officials and the OPP to receive reports from fellow zone captains.
By making the Community Watch program an official city initiative, existing municipal resources can supplement and promote the program, city facilities can be more easily used for meetings and our OPP and By-law Enforcement Officers will know that the concerns raised by the Community Watch volunteers have the full weight and support of the City behind them.
New Neighbourhood Street Party Policy:
A quality neighbourhood is built on more than just proximity and geographic coincidence.
Good, enjoyable neighbourhoods are built on a strong sense of community, friendship between people, a common concern for safety, and shared values and goals.
Earlier this summer, I had the opportunity to attend a Neighbourhood Block Party on Esther Street. Local residents came together with music, a pot luck dinner, and lost of stories to share and topics to chat about. The City of Pembroke supported this event by providing road barricades that the residents themselves erected for the duration of the even event and then took down when it was over.
The overall cost to the city - minimal; the value in getting to know your neighbours, making friends and coming together as a community - priceless.
If re-elected, I will immediately request that staff prepare a Neighbourhood Street Party policy that can be utilized by residents across the City to come together make their neighbourhoods stronger than ever!
Town Hall Meetings
While residents are always welcome to submit delegation requests to come before any meeting of Council on the first and third Tuesdays of each months, such delegations are limited to 15 minute time limits, are traditionally based on a single issue and do not allow for any meaningful back and forth or staff engagement.
Thus far this term (2022-2026), not a single town hall style meeting has been utilized by Council to hear from the residents of the City of Pembroke (Note: certain public meetings are held for planning matters, budgets and as otherwise required by law for specific matters that come before Council, but these are not town hall meetings where residents can bring any issue in front of their members of council). In April, 2024, I did personally host an unofficial town hall meeting in the Isabella Street area to discuss concerns surrounding the Grind and the increase in crime and nuisances that were being experienced by the residents in that local area.
Council should be more proactive in seeking the opinions of its residents and when there are questions or concerns, and the residents want to discuss them, Council should be open to providing an easy to attend forum to learn and hear from the public.
Affordability & Financial Considerations:
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