Five ways to raise the bar

I worked for the City of London for more than 25 years. Part of my job was approving building permits, sign permits, and pool permits. I interpreted 25 different bylaws and sat on the queue answering zoning questions from the public. When your application sits for months, I don't have to guess where it's stuck. I've seen it from the inside.

There is entirely too much red tape at City Hall, and there is no need for it. Too many steps, too many hand-offs, too many people waiting on an answer that should take days. Every one of those delays costs a family or a business real money.

The province is showing it can be done. They've shortened the time the planning department takes to review applications and cut steps out of the process with the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority. If Queen's Park can move that fast, London can too.

Because I worked at City Hall, I know how the system operates and how to hold it accountable. I'm not going to arrive at council needing a year to find my way around the building. I'll start pushing for faster, simpler approvals on day one.

I also worked in the City's Business Hub, helping new businesses open, existing businesses expand, and owners find their way through permits, zoning compliance, business licences, and sign permits. Supporting local business is part of this job, and I'll reopen discussions on expanding the existing Hyde Park Business Improvement Area.

Wonderland Road needs attention most of all. Widening it has been on the city's radar for years. It was supposed to happen this year, and it was deferred again. A significant portion of that road, from Sunningdale all the way to Sarnia Road, runs right through Ward 7. I will push hard to get the widening done.

We don't have Bus Rapid Transit in the northwest, and I don't think it's too late to bring it here. There's a strong argument for it: Ward 7 is the fastest-growing ward in the city. Growth like ours is exactly what rapid transit is built for.

Paying for it means looking beyond City Hall. I'll go after provincial and federal funding and get the community involved, because projects this size don't happen on property taxes alone.

Taxes come up at almost every door, and people deserve straight answers about where their money goes. Keeping increases in check starts with knowing the books.

Council sets the budget together, and that's how I'll approach it: working with fellow councillors, the Mayor, and City staff to find efficiencies and keep increases in check.

My approach is the one I learned inside government and studying accounting at Western: step back, look at the books, review the funding models, and identify where the capital is. That's how you fund roads, safety, and transit without reaching deeper into your pocket every year.

I've spent more than 25 years watching how City Hall spends money. I know where the process leaks. A councillor who has seen the books from the inside is harder to fool, and that's the councillor I intend to be.

I've lived in Ward 7 for 20 years. My three kids go to school here, I own a business here, and my wife runs her business on the ward's boundary. When I talk about this neighbourhood, I'm talking about home.

At the doors I hear the same things constantly. Residents want more accessible playgrounds for their kids. They want traffic-calming measures on their streets, because people are driving through our neighbourhoods like they're highways.

We only have one library in Ward 7. For a ward growing this fast, that's not enough; a second library would be great, and I'll fight for it. We have the aquatic centre, but we lack a dedicated community centre. I will push for that too.

These aren't luxuries. Libraries, community centres, playgrounds, and safe streets are what turn a subdivision into a neighbourhood. Ward 7 has been paying for growth. It's time growth paid Ward 7 back.

We desperately need more housing in London, and affordable housing is the top priority. That's not a talking point for me; I see it from both sides. I approved building permits at City Hall for years, and I own and manage residential rental properties myself.

I want to sit on the housing board at City Hall and work directly on the budget and development decisions. That's where the calls that get more affordable homes built happen.

The other half of the job is making it easier for developers to get projects off the ground for Londoners. Every month a project spends stuck in approvals is a month of rent and mortgage payments added to its price. Cutting that delay is housing policy.

As a landlord, I know what it takes to keep a home in good shape and a tenant treated fairly. As a permit approver, I know why projects stall. Put those two together on council, and you get someone who can actually move housing forward instead of just talking about it.