On Oct. 24, voters in Barrie, Ont., will head to the polls to elect their new municipal government.
Residents of Barrie will elect councillors in 10 wards as well as a mayor to form city council.
There will be a new face taking over the seat of mayor this term, with three-term mayor Jeff Lehman deciding he would not seek a fourth term.
Three candidates have put their hats in the ring for Ward 1.
Wards 5 and 7 were acclaimed, so Global News will not have profiles on their wards.
Global News has not received responses from any of the candidates from wards 3, 8, or 9 yet. If we do, profiles will be created for those areas.
To help voters ahead of this election, Global News has reached out to all of those running for city council and mayor in Barrie with available online contact info. Those running for office were emailed a list of seven questions, and in the coming days, the responses for every candidate who replies will be shared.
What follows are the responses received from those running for Ward 1 councillor, with the candidates being listed in alphabetical order. This page will be updated if more candidates choose to respond.
Constance Elliott
Q.1 Please give a brief background of yourself including what you do for a living and how long you have lived in the area? (If you are an incumbent, please state how long you have held the position.)
Did not answer
Q.2 Why do you believe you are the right person for the job?
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I check all the boxes;
Experience: I can hit the ground running! I have job experience and education that would support me in this position. I’ve been in local government for almost 15 years. I’ve had cross-departmental exposure and studied municipal administration. I have a firm grasp of governing legislation, municipal by-laws, and meeting procedures. My job requires me to move committee goals through the meeting process. If elected, I would apply the same methods to move the will of my constituents forward.
Diversity: I represent change. Sticking with the status quo is discouraging for future generations, whether they are interested in entering politics or just future voters. I am 38 years old (relatively young), and I am of a mixed background. I immigrated to Canada with my parents at the age of 18 months. I am also running because we need more women in politics. Barrie seems to be particularly lacking when it comes to female representation at the Council table. Having more than two women should be the norm at a table of 11. Working for smaller Towns and Townships, I have been fortunate to see many Council tables with 40 to 50 per cent female representation. These tables are smaller, and they still have more women than the City of Barrie is still getting. Not only am I well qualified for this role, but I also know what it feels like to feel under-represented, and I understand those voices that haven’t been need to be heard. If elected, even when that voice isn’t mine, I will do my best to make those voices heard.
Representation: I don’t just live in Ward One. I have lived in Ward One for almost my entire life. I drive down the same streets as you, I know how bad the roads are and want them repaired as badly as you do. I want to restore my community to what it once was.
I am not looking for a career in politics. If elected, I only need one term. As I mentioned, I am well-versed in local government. I will hit the ground running. I will work tirelessly and give you four gruelling years, I will give this Ward and City that I love everything I’ve got, and then I will walk away proud of what I have been able to accomplish, happy to pass the baton to the next person.
Q.3 What do you think is the most important issue facing your ward and the city as a whole?
This Ward – roads. Not only the condition of the roads but speeding on roads and the need for traffic calming measures. I can’t tell you how many people pointed out that the condition of the roads wasn’t the first item listed in my top 5 priorities (which were not numbered or listed in the order of importance). Duckworth, Grove, Nelson, and Blake are all arterial roads that are in very poor shape. Complaints of speeding down Codrington, Napier, Steel, Johnson and Grove, as well as many of the quieter side streets, are a huge concern, particularly given the close proximity to schools and lack of schools. Despite the City’s reasons for neglecting Ward One roads (upcoming development and a need to replace sewer and water mains), it is still concerning to us Ward one residents that other roads in newer subdivisions have already been replaced. It is still concerning that many of our arterial roads are in such poor condition. These are the roads the paramedics will take, it is vital to the residents of Ward one that these roads are prioritized.
The City – Affordability, specifically housing. I keep seeing these new builds that are in no way, shape or form affordable! We may as well not allow any development if we are not meeting the needs of our population. For example, the new Condo Tower being built near Johnson and Blake (the City fought it and lost), the city spent way too much money on lawyers to go to the province and lose a losing battle. I would have liked to have seen that money used to reassess the development charges. I do not believe the City charges enough development charges, specifically the housing portion. I believe some of these developments are further displacing our existing populations. Their existence makes our City more expensive, and so as we build, we are also seeing an increase in people who need affordable housing. Some people argue there is a trickle-down effect, but I don’t believe that is the case. Investors buy, then sell for a profit or rent. Investors were the smallest segment of buyers 10 years ago. Now they make up more than 25 percent of home buyers. When you speak to people, they are frustrated they grew up here, and they are being forced to leave. I have met many people on the campaign trail who are considered high earners, and they just can’t break into the housing market. Building homes that people can’t buy doesn’t help. If elected, I will prioritize creative ways to drive truly affordable housing.
Q.4 Looking down the road, what are your long-term goals for the city?
- Getting the bad roads of Ward One replaced.
- Getting a motion to the province for student housing legislation (addressing overcrowding, nuisance, and soaring rental fees)
- An aggressive waste diversion program to combat climate change
- A development charges study (especially for the housing portion)
- Traffic calming measures
- Strengthening Barrie by-laws (You can hire all the officers you want, but they can’t enforce the by-laws that are not there)
- Dog park and Splash pad for the East-end
Q.5 What are the pillars of your campaign?
Setting people up for success! It’s about rebuilding the community, supporting students, and addressing affordability. If you can’t sleep at night because of noisy vehicles, this includes you too!
Q.6 What do you like to do in your spare time?
Spending time with my family and creative endeavours such as creative writing, painting, and drawing.
Q.7 What is your favourite thing about living in your city/ward?
There are so many things I love. I have a lot of pride in living in the East-end of Barrie. Don’t even suggest to me the idea of living in another part of the city. I love to walk the neighbourhood and feel so fortunate that we still have an almost untouched community. People are friendly, it is peaceful and pristine, and we have amazing views of the lake.
Andre Jmourko
Q.1 Please give a brief background of yourself including what you do for a living and how long you have lived in the area? (If you are an incumbent, please state how long you have held the position.)
Over the last 10 years I’ve watched Barrie grow from a quiet city to a vibrant centre. We’ve seen amazing developments in infrastructure, housing, the waterfront and inspiring new businesses settle in Barrie. Along the way I started my own business, brought family and friends up from the city, and have always been grateful to have found my way here. The kindness and close community feel in Barrie is something that’s rare to find elsewhere.
Having worked in construction, real estate and currently real estate marketing for almost a decade, the issues that we are facing firsthand with housing and affordability are something that strikes close to home. With my experience and knowledge in the real estate sector, we can work with the city to create a concrete plan to tackle this issue head on and provide the housing needed to families which make Barrie such an amazing place to live.
Q.2 Why do you believe you are the right person for the job?
Work ethic, communication skills and new perspectives on current and recurring issues.
Q.3 What do you think is the most important issue facing your ward and the city as a whole?
Safety. We’ve seen an increase in crime, break-ins as well as excessive speeding in family neighbourhoods that are causing families and neighbours to feel unsafe in their communities and neighbourhoods.
Q.4 Looking down the road, what are your long-term goals for the city?
Growth in community, culture and opportunity are my long-term goals for the city.
Q.5 What are the pillars of your campaign?
The pillars of my campaign are: Advancing the creation of on campus student housing in the east end, opening a by-law in a local municipally owned facility to save costs and redirect savings to hiring more by-law officer for the community, and increasing police presence in the neighbourhood by creating an evidence based schedule response plan.
Q.6 What do you like to do in your spare time?
Explore new restaurants, spend time with family and participate in the various aspects of film and theatre, through Barrie and Simcoe.
Q.7 What is your favourite thing about living in your city/ward?
The location and the people. Barrie is unmatched for what it offers and the proximity to outdoor experiences, as well as vibrant downtown activities and location to other centres. The residents here are nice, helpful and take pride in the city they reside in.
Clare (Clarence) Riepma
Q.1 Please give a brief background of yourself including what you do for a living and how long you have lived in the area? (If you are an incumbent, please state how long you have held the position.)
I have been the Ward 1 Councillor for the past 4 years. It has been both a pleasure and an honour to work with residents on the issues in the Ward. I live in Ward 1 and have my business here as well. I am a Civil Engineer and a City Planner and have run my consulting company for the past 30 years.
Q.2 Why do you believe you are the right person for the job?
I am the right person for the job because I have the experience and a long track record of being involved in community affairs. In the past four years we have started a number of initiatives and I want to keep working on them to complete them. These include bringing speed cameras to school zones, increasing pro-active property standards enforcement, a new management program for the North Shore Trail, affordable housing initiatives, the market precinct and a new Performing Arts Centre to name a few.
Q.3 What do you think is the most important issue facing your ward and the city as a whole?
Housing affordability is a significant concern for many people. The driver behind this problem is that we have a large urban center to the south of us where prices are rising. As a result, people are forced to drive until they can afford the mortgage or the rent. While the City has some 19,000 approved units in the housing pipeline, very few are affordable. Both the province and the federal governments got out of the housing business a couple of decades ago. This problem won’t be solved until they get back into the business and help the City and County to get geared to income housing built.
Q.4 Looking down the road, what are your long-term goals for the city?
I think we are in the business of building a great city. That means that the city has to work well for everyone from young to old. That requires three things:
- A strong economy: We need local jobs that permit people to work locally and live locally. We need to upgrade our infrastructure in the older areas of the City and provide new infrastructure to facilitate the new areas. Our downtown needs to be healthy and vibrant to attract business and activity. The market precinct needs to be built out. We need robust transit, cycling, pedestrian infrastructure so that people can get around readily.
- A social/cultural environment: As we grow, we will need an increasingly diverse range of social facilities and services. We need to expand and improve our parks, our libraries, parks and recreation and sports facilities.
- A natural environment: Climate change requires that we increase our mitigation strategies and reduce our carbon footprint. One way to do this would be to increase our forest canopy by planting more street trees and improving the health of our existing trees.
Q.5 What are the pillars of your campaign?
The basis of my campaign is really about moving the projects that have been started forward to completion. We now have a list of the roads to be rebuilt in Ward 1 and a schedule for doing them. We have a consultant doing a report on vegetation management, erosion control, pollinators, and invasive species control along the North Shore Trail and we will need to implement the changes. The Official Plan for the City is finished and the next step is to approve a new zoning bylaw for the City. We have task force reports and recommendations on affordable housing, the market precinct and the performing arts centre. Those initiatives need to be moved forward.
Q.6 What do you like to do in your spare time?
I am a reader with a couple of books on the go at a time. I like gardening, walking, birding, wind surfing, cross country skiing, and hanging out with good people and family. I also enjoy vintage vehicles and have a classic car, a couple of 1963 Honda 150 motorcycles, and my bicycle is 50 years old.
Q.7 What is your favourite thing about living in your city/ward?
The best thing about Barrie, especially Ward 1, is the people – always interesting and engaged. As well the waterfront and downtown are two of my favourite places.
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