Trust and confidence are the most critical pillars in my platform for re-election. Without it, elected officials cannot gain public support for hard choices.

The decision of the 2014-2018 Council and this Council to keep the volume and duration of the sewage spill in Chedoke Creek from the public severed the trust of many of you in the City government. It will take hard work and time rebuild a trust that has been lost and damaged.

Nobody is infallible. Certainly not me. I will continue to admit my mistakes and attempt to repair the damage done. I believe bold and trusted leadership is required to solve our City’s problems. I hope I have demonstrated that. I have been as transparent and as open as I can be, and that is not going to change.

I am committed to continuing the following.

• Provide up-to-date disclosure on all Ward 1 expenses through my website. Publish my attendance record
• Provide notice to the public if and when I will be absent from a City committee meeting
• Accept no gifts
• File no travel or meal expenses
• Publish the Ward 1 e-newsletter regularly

During my first term, I sought to uphold the public interest with the following actions.

• I called for an independent investigation of the June 2019 PRIDE event in Gage Park. The Hamilton Police Services eventually launched an independent review which resulted in the Board and Chief of Police apologizing to the 2SLGBTQ+ community. 
• I supported eliminating the $100 resident fee for filing a complaint with the City’s Integrity Commissioner.
• I voted to release the requested City documents to the Red Hill Valley Parkway Inquiry.
• I unsuccessfully advocated for Hamilton City Council to publicly disclose the volume and duration of the sewage spill into Chedoke Creek.
• I successfully secured support from Council to formally apologize to Hamiltonians in November 2019 for its failure to disclose the volume and duration of the spill of 24 billion litres of combined sewage into Chedoke Creek. The information was known to the previous Council in advance of the 2018 election and subsequently by the next elected Council.

If re-elected, I will

• Support a Ward 1 Day at Hamilton City Hall. The event will offer residents an opportunity to learn more about local government.
• Advocate for a council score card that will allow residents to easily access how their elected officials voted on issues before committees
• Mandate an annual report on logged resident calls to the Municipal Service Centre and ask for a review of how social media service requests are incorporated in quality control and response efforts. 
• Continue to support the value-for-money audits conducted by the City’s Auditor.