Jennifer Smith

When I first put my name forward as your candidate for Ward 2 back in January, people thought I was out of my mind. No one had ever heard of a newcomer running against two incumbents simultaneously, and some even suggested that I run in another ward.

The thought never even crossed my mind.

Now more than ever, I am committed to this community. I plan to spend the next four years doing exactly what I promised to do all through my campaign - keeping people informed, pressuring Council on issues like downtown revitalization and the Bruce Street Library, and continuing to speak up and speak out for Ward 2.

This really is only the beginning.

I wanted to congratulate all our new councillors (seven of them!), but especially my fellow 'Shadow Cabinet' members - Zeeshan Hamid, Mike Cluett, and Rick Di Lorenzo who won in Wards 6, 7 and 8 respectively.  Congratulations as well to Andrew Salmons and Martin Capper who worked tremendously hard in Ward 1 and rounded out our very active group of Tweeting / Blogging / Facebooking techno-candidates. We've all come to know and respect one another through the course of the campaign, and whether we're sitting in the comfy Council chairs or those painfully uncomfortable gallery seats, we will all be making our mark on Milton over the next four years.

I want to thank my husband Adam and my son Iain, who have both put up with nine months of chaos, distraction, dinners for two, and an even shoddier standard of housekeeping than usual - all with unreserved love and support. I promise, I'll vacuum this week.

Thank you to my campaign team, especially Esther my campaign manager. I was a particularly fluorescent shade of green when I started all this, but Esther's experience, expertise, and constant encouragement transformed my enthusiastic notions and grand schemes into a formidable, professional political campaign. We make a hell of a team, and I fully expect you to come back for Round 2.

A huge thank you to my volunteers, especially Kathy, Joan and Silvester who all worked tirelessly pounding the pavement, handing out literature and knocking on doors with me. I think they were even better at singing my praises than I was.

Thank you as well to the many, many people who took lawn signs, told their friends and neighbours about me, donated time or money, or otherwise actively supported me.

Finally, thank you to the 545 Ward 2 residents who placed their faith in me by marking my name on their ballot. I am truly humbled by your support.

Stay tuned to this website, folks. There's lots more to come!

This is it, folks!

They always say that 'every vote counts', but in a municipal race this close it really is true. You would be amazed at how many municipal races are won or lost by a handful of votes. So please make sure that you get out to vote today, and also remind any friends or family members who support me to vote as well.

Here are a few things to keep in mind before you head out to the polls:

~ Polls are open from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm. If you are unsure of your polling location, check the Town website or just give me a call and I'll check for you.

~ Remember that you will only be voting for ONE Local Councillor. I continue to hear from people who either think we are still electing two local councillors, or are unclear on the difference between the 'Local' and 'Local & Regional' council seat. These are two separate roles, despite the confusing terminology.

~ PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR ID!  You are now required to show identification with your name, signature and current address when voting, whether you are on the voters list or not. This can be a driver's license, a new-style Health Card, a rental agreement, or any combination of documents that will show name, signature and address.  A complete list can be found here.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout this long campaign. I couldn't have come this far without you.

Now, get out there and vote, and let's start putting Ward 2 First!

  

Over the past nine months I have knocked on nearly 4,000 doors, written 60 blog posts, made over 500 Tweets, presented my views and ideas through debates, interviews and questionnaires, and spoken with hundreds upon hundreds of Ward 2 residents.

But in the end, none of that really matters.  In the end it all comes down to you, the voter, and who you will chose to represent you for the next four years.

In the end, the only question you need to ask is, "Why should I vote for Jennifer Smith?"

1) I will put Ward 2 First

I don't just live in the heart of Ward 2 - I work here, I shop here, I've raised my son here, and I hope to spend the rest of my life here. I am passionate about this town and this neighbourhood, and I truly believe that by revitalizing and reinvesting in Ward 2, we can once again make Milton the kind of town we all want to live in.

2) I will speak up for you

How do you know this? Because I already have - about the library, about bike lanes, about road safety - even while our current representatives were silent. I will continue to speak up as your councillor, and I will make sure I get results for you.

3) I will listen to you and keep you informed

I already have - through this website, through social media, and by going door to door and speaking with you personally. And I will continue to do so as your councillor - even when it's not an election year.

4) I have specific, practical solutions to the problems we face

I have detailed many of these proposals on this blog, dealing with everything from road safety to heritage to downtown revitalization. As your representative, I will work with staff and my fellow councillors to put these ideas into practice.

5) I will bring real leadership to the council table.

I have already demonstrated leadership and teamwork by getting results for Ward 2 on road safety and bike lanes, and by working alongside fellow candidates to raise over $5,700 for Milton District Hospital. It will not take me three years, or two years, or even six months to get to work for you. I plan to hit the ground running, and I am truly looking forward to working with our new team on Council.

At long last, coverage of the October 5th debate on downtown issues, sponsored by the Milton DBIA.

We've heard a lot of talk from candidates about "revitalizing the downtown core" and "making sure intensification is done right". But without a solid plan, it's all just talk.

Here's my plan:

1) Identify the Problem

Milton is a town of nearly 90,000 with a downtown designed for 25,000.  That traditional core cannot be developed much further because we need to preserve its heritage, and because much of it is on the Sixteen Mile Creek flood plain.  The area also suffers by being isolated from the growing areas of town by a wasteland of industrial units, strip malls and empty lots.

Some candidates think that downtown Milton is doing just fine. To be sure, many businesses are thriving, but many are also struggling and going under. Perhaps more importantly, Main Street is lacking the sorts of businesses that serve neighbourhood residents and draw people downtown every day, resulting in a proliferation of big box developments on the outskirts of town and a downtown seniors population unable to access groceries or essential services.

2) Plan the Solution

Milton's Infill and Intensification plan will potentially remedy this situation by re-developing and building up the areas to the east and west of our traditional downtown core. The vision is of a continuous, vibrant, pedestrian-friendly downtown strip running the length of Main Street all the way from Bronte to Thompson Road.

This plan would concentrate population and retail growth in the centre of town instead of sprawling further outwards, and would draw customers towards our existing historic shopping district, making those businesses more viable for everyone.

The problem is that, while the intensification plan presents a wonderful vision of Main Street business and residential development, there are no incentives or other mechanisms in place to make it happen.  There is no reason for existing property owners to invest in redevelopment, and nothing to prevent developers from building more strip malls, parking lots, and big box stores.

3) Make it Happen

The Planning Act provides a way to help municipalities take control and accomplish exactly the kind of redevelopment proposed in our intensification plan.

It's called a Community Improvement Plan, or CIP.

Designating all of Milton's Urban Growth Centre as a CIP Area would give the Town access to a wide range of tools and mechanisms such as tax incentives, development charge deferments, bonusing options and site plan controls that would allow us to actively encourage desirable types of development and to offer practical incentives for property owners to move ahead with redevelopment.

It could mean the difference between this...





 
And this...






A CIP would also give us access to Federal and Provincial funding for things like 'brownfield' rehabilitation. In fact, if the old paint factory lot by the tracks had been part of a CIP, we might have had access to funding for the clean-up instead of having to pay for it all ourselves.

Having a CIP in place would also help us make our case to Halton Region to move ahead with added water and sewage service to the intensification area.

This idea is nothing new. The City of Hamilton has been using CIPs to revitalize many of their declining brownfield and industrial areas, as have many other towns and cities.  In fact, a consultant's report presented to Milton Town Council three years ago recommended a CIP for precisely the reasons I have outlined here.

The recommendations were ignored and the idea of an expanded CIP was left out of our revised Official Plan.

As your councillor, I will work with staff and our new council to develop a Community Improvement Plan that will benefit existing businesses, create a walkable, 'small town' environment for Ward 2 residents, and provide a vibrant town centre for everyone in Milton.

Enough talk. It's time for action.

  

Photo by Graham Paine

Tuesday's Champion has front page coverage of last week's all-candidates meeting on seniors issues, and the Bruce Street Library is the top issue mentioned.

I'm not sure that the article quite conveyed my tone when I said I was "very pleased" that current councillors are now supporting Bruce Street as a branch library. Because by "very pleased", what I really meant was "surprised and disgusted" that they would suddenly want to reverse a decision that they themselves made simply because they're trying to get re-elected.

Please see my previous post for a timeline of all the opportunities my opponents had to speak out against the closure of this library and failed to do so over the past three years. Sorry isn't good enough.

I have been on record from day one that the Bruce Street Library should remain open as a branch, and I have consistently held our current local councillors to account for both their decision to close it and for their failure to inform their constituents. If I had not, they wouldn't have even bothered mentioning it at that meeting.

Keep all that in mind when you cast your ballot on October 25th.

_______________________________

UPDATE: Andrew Salmons made the claim at that debate that keeping the Bruce Street Library open would result in a 7% tax increase. I like Andrew very much, but in this case he is simply wrong. I questioned him on this and he is basing his figures on the cost of Bruce Street continuing to operate as the Main Library, which nobody is suggesting.

Assuming that Bruce Street would operate as a Branch Library with similar costs to the existing Beaty Branch, we`re looking at approximately $890,000 a year which is about 3% of the 2010 Town tax levy, not 7%. And with downsizing, leasing out the auxiliary administrative building, renting out space to community groups, plus projected assessment growth after the new library opens, it would almost certainly be considerably less.

One question that obviously needs to be asked is, if our current councillors are so committed to this, why hasn't one of them asked Town staff to sort out exactly what a Bruce Street Branch would cost to operate?

After nine long months of campaigning, blogging, debating, and knocking on every door in Ward 2, we're finally into the home stretch. Two weeks and a day from now, the people of Milton will make their choice and set the course of our town for the next four years.

It's sometimes surprising to the candidates that not everyone is as consumed with election fever as we are. Which is why it is so gratifying when I find people who not only support me, but who are willing to go that extra step and volunteer, donate to my campaign, or host an election sign on their lawn.

Signs are a vital part of any campaign. They build name recognition, and they show people that their friends and neighbours are supporting a particular candidate. They are especially important for new candidates like myself who must overcome the advantages held by their incumbent opponent (or in my case, opponents)

This is why I am asking you to take that extra step and consider placing one of my signs on your lawn.

It's easy. Just email me at jsmithward2@gmail.com, phone me at (905) 299-5551, or click on the election sign to the right. I will come and install it personally with my profound thanks, I will replace it if it gets damaged or stolen, and I promise to take it away again right after the election is over.

They're also pretty good looking signs, if I do say so myself.

I have made a commitment to listen to your needs, to keep you informed, to speak up for you, to take the initiative on council by proposing real, practical solutions for our ward and our town - and above all, to start putting Ward 2 first.  But I can't do any of these things until I'm elected to council, and for that I need your help.

There's only two weeks and a day left. Let's get the word out.


  

Thanks so much to Kelly, Tiger, and everyone down at Milton Today TV for a very professional, well-organized and spirited debate today.  It was great getting to speak early on, then go home and watch the rest online with live chat commentary.

Now imagine this kind of technology for Council and other meetings.



The Ward 2 debate starts at about 21:00.

Note: At one point Greg Nelson mentions that keeping the Bruce Street facility as a branch library will involve "a fight" because it goes against the Library Master Plan. He should know - he was one of the councillors who approved the Library Master Plan two and a half years ago. If he had wanted to "fight" staff's recommendations, perhaps he should have done so then.

It's been an intense couple of days on the campaign trail.  Tuesday evening was the Ward 2 DBIA debate, followed Wednesday afternoon by the all-candidates meeting on seniors issues.

The Tuesday meeting was the closest thing we've had to a real 'debate' so far, in the sense that we all had to answer randomly selected questions with no preparation. It was exciting to finally have the chance to answer some ward-specific questions head to head with just my fellow Ward 2 candidates.


I had several people tell me afterwards that they really appreciated the fact that I had specific proposals to offer instead of just re-iterating the problems or explaining what couldn't be done.

Wednesday we were back to the madness of 30+ candidates at the table, this time talking about seniors issues.  We each got 2 minutes of introduction and one minute each to answer three pre-submitted questions.

I knew going into it that the library was going to be a significant issue. I also knew that the two incumbent Ward 2 councillors have suddenly, miraculously developed a passion for keeping the Bruce Street Library open.

I'm sorry, but they don't get off that easily. Here are the facts:

- The 'decision' to close the Bruce Street Library has never once been disputed or even brought up for debate at council in the ten or more years since it was first conceived as part of the 'Destiny Milton' strategic plan.

- After the location for the new library/arts centre was decided, the Library Board presented a more detailed 'Master Plan' to Council that contained a single line specifying that Bruce Street would be closed. Not a single councillor commented on it. This was in June of 2008 when both Ward 2 incumbents were on Council.

- In June of 2009 when the federal stimulus money came through and the construction of the new library was accelerated, there was another opportunity to discuss the fate of Bruce Street at Council. Again, it was not discussed.

- In December of 2009 we see the first mention in the press of Bruce Street closing in the form of a letter to the Milton Champion. There is no news article on the subject until March of this year.

- In February of this year, Council discussed the closure of the Bruce Street Library as a separate issue for the first time. Councillor Nelson commented on the "anxiety level" and "misinformation" among neighbourhood residents and seniors, and stated that "the perception - and politics is perception - is that we took something away". Councillor Boughton said nothing.

I'm not sure which is worse - the fact that neither of our representatives bothered to tell any of us that the Bruce Street Library was closing, or that they did nothing whatsoever to stop it. Perhaps they didn't notice. Perhaps they thought we wouldn't care.

In any case, that's simply not good enough. We deserve the kind of representatives who won't just fight for us when they happen to be running for re-election. We deserve the kind of leadership that gets in front of problems like this instead of letting major issues slip past unnoticed until it's almost too late.

I will deliver that representation and that leadership. I WILL put Ward 2 first.

 

Since my campaign began back in January, I have been listening to the ideas and concerns of the people of Ward 2, and working with them to find practical, innovative solutions.

Here is some of what I propose:

• Keep services like libraries, banks and the main Post Office downtown
• Encourage a grocery store to locate downtown again
• Preserve and invigorate the historic downtown core
• Designate all of the Urban Growth Centre as a Community Improvement Area
• Use tools such as tax and DC deferrals to encourage specific types of commercial development in the Intensification Area
• Make Main Street a continuous, vibrant downtown core all the way to Thompson

• Recognize and utilize Milton's cultural heritage and historic buildings as economic assets
• Examine programmes used by other municipalities, including, loans, grants, etc.
• Establish a Heritage Trust/Endowment Fund with the Town providing seed money and/or matching private donations
• Offer tax deferrals for heritage property owners to offset increased assessment value for major improvements (education portion covered by the Province)

• Bi-monthly round tables with neighbourhood residents to hear concerns & share ideas
• Allow people to sign up for email notification of public meetings
• Communication must go both ways
• Live streaming and online video archive of Council and Committee meetings
• Host websites for all councillors to communicate with constituents

• Promote our skilled, educated workforce to attract businesses that will bring well-paying jobs for Miltonians
• Council must be pro-active in shaping and controlling residential and commercial development
• Implement Urban Design Standards, not just guidelines
• Diverse housing, mixed development for a vibrant community

• Coordinated traffic lights to ease gridlock
• Re-examine options for safe pedestrian crossings, both road and rail
• Implement a Traffic Calming Policy for Milton, similar to that of Caledon
• Add on-road bike lanes where feasible, broad multi-use trails elsewhere
• Put the emphasis on moving people, not just cars
• Improve transit routes to draw more riders downtown

• Institute an independent Tourism Board for Milton
• Make better use of existing parks and the Fairgrounds
• Upgrade play equipment in older parks
• Encourage more options for recreation besides organized team sports, especially for youth

I just wanted to remind everyone that there are three all candidates meetings / debates coming up involving Ward 2 candidates:

• Tuesday, October 5th at 6:30 pm at Hugh Foster Hall (43 Brown St). Hosted by the Milton DBIA, this one will be Ward 2 candidates only, and we'll be discussing issues pertaining to downtown Milton.
• Wednesday October 6th at 1:00 pm at the Seniors Activity Centre (500 Childs Dr). Candidates from all wards will be discussing seniors issues. I suspect that the fate of the Bruce Street Library will be a major topic.
• Sunday October 10th at the Milton Holiday Inn at 2:00 pm, hosted by Milton Today TV. No details on the format yet, but I have been told it will be divided by ward and will be streamed online.

These events are great opportunity to see your candidates in action, and to hear them answer questions that they might not otherwise be inclined to answer. I'm really looking forward to it.

Hope to see you there!

Nobody likes construction on their street, but some construction jobs are worse than others.

All this summer, the residents of Kingsleigh Court in the north-east corner of Ward 2 have been having their street "urbanized" - a process whereby the whole road is dug up and roadside ditches and culverts are replaced with storm drains, sidewalks and curbs. It's not something a lot of residents wanted or felt they needed, but progress moves inexorably onward and most eventually came to accept the idea, however grudgingly.

What they cannot accept is the way in which it is being done.

First is the slow pace of the work. The street was first dug up in June, and isn't scheduled to be completed until the end of November. It's a long, awkwardly shaped street so that may be considered normal, but the people I spoke to yesterday claim that days and weeks often went by over the summer where no work was done at all.

There has also been a problem with people waking up to find their cars trapped because the ends of their driveways had been dug out without any advance notice from the contractor.

It's hard to see from this photo, but that's over a foot high drop off the end of the driveway. The homeowner told me that the guy across the street had the same problem a while back and had to miss work.

The worst problem has been the rocky fill that has been covering the road. I spoke with two people who had had tires blown on the large, jagged rocks. One had some fairly costly damage done to her car.


The problem is so severe that the neighbourhood hasn't received mail delivery or garbage pick-up for weeks. Even taxis and pizza delivery cars won't venture in for fear of damage.

We need to start taking a little more care when tendering these contracts, insisting that contractors maintain a certain minimum standard for the condition of the roadbed, and that they notify residents ahead of time when access to their property is going to be cut off or greatly restricted. And if a large number of unresolved complaints have been lodged against a contractor on multiple jobs, perhaps we should consider prohibiting them from bidding on future Town contracts for a period of time.

Construction is a fact of life. It's the job of our Town representatives to make sure that the disruption is kept to a minimum.

 

One concern I have been hearing regularly from residents in Ward 2 is the sad state of our neighbourhood parks and playgrounds. Many have taken to driving out to the new developments with their kids just so they can have safe, modern, fun equipment to play on.

That's not right.

Most larger parks in Ward 2, like Rotary Park and Tonelli / Bronte Meadows, have had several upgrades and are generally well maintained and up to date. In fact, Brian Best Park is currently getting a major facelift, although it will be more of a sports field than a playground.

However, there are also lots of little neighbourhood parks and playgrounds, often tucked away in the centres of old 60s and 70s housing developments, that are in very sad shape - in some cases to the point of being potentially hazardous.

Wakefield Park

Out of sight, apparently, means out of mind.

One major source of frustration to local residents is David Thompson Park, which is otherwise a hidden gem tucked in between Maplewood Crescent and Bell Street, north of Tonelli Arena.  This park had some major upgrades a couple of years ago, with new drainage, lovely footbridges installed over the swale, and a broad paved multi-use trail running the length of the park. They also spent $19,000 on "play equipment upgrades".

This is what we got for nineteen grand:

David Thompson Park

One parent in the neighbourhood told me that when her daughter wants to play in the park, she asks Mommy if they can go to "the swing".

The contract for this particular park reconstruction was awarded in such a way that the same contractor hired to improve the drainage and pave the trail (in this case Pacific Paving) was also given the responsibility for selecting, purchasing and installing the playground equipment.

While I don't know what effect this may have had on the final cost or the final result, I am glad to see that policy has changed now so that the Town is dealing more directly with the play equipment manufacturers themselves and playing a larger role in selecting equipment and designing play areas appropriate to each park.

It's just a shame they didn't have this policy in place when they installed "the swing" at David Thompson Park.

As your new councillor, I will be carefully examining things like playground upgrades to make sure that Ward 2 doesn't get shortchanged again, so that someday all our parks and playgrounds will be as nice as these.

Speyer Park (Scott Neighbourhood)

Coates Neighbourhood Park