Stewardship means making decisions that hold up over time—not ones that feel good in the moment but quietly create bigger problems down the road.

That includes being honest about what we can afford. When auditors and asset management plans tell us something isn’t sustainable, we shouldn’t ignore that reality for the sake of short-term relief or good-news headlines.

I ask hard questions about long-term costs, maintenance, and responsibility because that’s how we protect and fairly distribute our shared assets—our finances, our land, and our institutions—so today’s choices don’t become tomorrow’s problems.

I want to foster a culture where council treats the role like a responsibility, not a vanity plate, and governance gets quiet, boring, and effective.

Good policy starts with facts, constraints, and real-world impacts—not assumptions or loudest voices—and it should be judged by whether it actually works.

That means using data to guide decisions about safety and services, engaging the community where decisions involve trade-offs in values, and recognizing that different parts of Central Elgin may need different solutions. It means not just receiving recommendations, but also follow-up reports to gauge how effective our solutions were, and correcting courses accordingly.

Evidence doesn’t remove feelings or values from decision-making—but it ensures we’re making those decisions with a clear understanding of their consequences.

Respect means being clear about what’s possible, what isn’t, and why. Trust is built when people are given the same information decision-makers are working from, and are treated as capable of understanding it.

It also means meeting people where they are. There is no wrong place to engage with local government. Whether someone asks questions in person, online, or outside traditional hours, that’s all part of participating in community life. Respecting our community means meeting our neighbours in the times and spaces that make that participation possible.

Good governance depends on both: clear, honest communication and a willingness to listen. Residents are not an audience—they are partners in the work of their community.

This past winter, Port Stanley drew local attention when we received freight through the harbour. It also paid much more generously than jetski rentals ever could. As Powerco builds and industry around St. Thomas increases, dredging the harbour to allow freight to land could reinvigorate the working harbour charm that so many villagers already love, and create a revenue stream detached from our tax levy. This term, I plan to explore the viability of municipally-owned dredging equipment – something that our environmental partners at the Longpoint Biosphere Region have seen work in other communities already – as well as the viability and the steps needed to receive freight more regularly and efficiently.

Purpose-built tourism is key to returning housing to our residents. That means planning hotel spaces for visitors, and making it affordable for residents to winterize 3-season cottages. These steps will turn cottages with summer rental incomes into viable homes for permanent families, and businesses in the village can count on those families to patronize them all year round. Short-term rental noise and parking will be shifted away from community neighbourhoods and into dedicated areas. Pairing this with venue space for meetings and special occasions would take this plan a step further, facilitating continued non-resident revenue through the winter, to lend additional stability to tourism-reliant businesses. This work can be achieved by examining the data we have begun to collect and aligning our STR policies to respond to it, and by engaging with our partners in development, as well as the provincial and federal government.

An elephant in the Hospital Lands room is the province’s announcement of their intention to demolish the buildings. Residents are intelligent people, and it was quickly identified that the first communication to council on this front came a month before council’s last consultation with the public about the land, and months after the province decided it no longer needed to heat the buildings to maintain their condition. People are justifiably upset.

Although Central Elgin may not have the power to prevent the province demolishing the buildings, I agree with the public: it is disrespectful to downplay opposition to the demolition when we have such a strong and persistent communication from our neighbours about the issue. Using taxpayer dollars on consultations after the fact only adds to that frustration. We are partners with the province in development, but we are voices for Central Elgin. When faced with situations where the province and the community are not in alignment, we owe it to our community to communicate your feedback honestly, even when it reveals disagreement. One of my most important goals this term, in the case of the hospital lands, but also in other matters of community values, is to advocate for real community feedback, presented for better or for worse. I will push for transparency in negotiations, and for using fewer middleman consultants, so that when communication goes awry, we can easily pinpoint the points of failure and improve on them.

 For the silent minority the councillor was describing, the fact that we have homes priced at 7-figures and stagnating on the market should be the real conversation. We have an abundance of very expensive housing, and hardly anything that is deeply affordable. But deeply affordable housing comes hand-in-hand with lower property taxes and lower mortgages, which reduce total monthly expenses for families under financial pressure. 

The reality is that services often make life more affordable for those experiencing financial pressures. Transit improves work prospects, makes errands easier, and can allow households to forego a second vehicle. Community gardens make fresh produce accessible as inflation hits grocery stores. Grant and subsidy programs create more opportunities for recreation for people of all ages. Providing services means providing quality of life, especially for those stressed about their bills. I would rather see us create savings for families in need by maintaining and even increasing services, and targeting affordable housing solutions and new, non-tax sources of income.

When this council was first sworn in, one of our first planning matters was the early stages of the Kettle Creek golf course development. Even our own planners acknowledged the proposal didn’t include enough dense and affordable housing—yet council approved it. That can’t be a concession we make in the interest of growth. We need to insist on affordable options and diverse housing types every time.

This term, we have taken the important step of licensing short term rentals, which gives us the data we need to understand and manage their impact. As we arrive at a point where we have more intentionally tourist accommodation options, we can begin to use that data to limit the number of viable homes being used as STRs, and incentivize making them suitable for permanent housing.

Since every municipality is required by provincial legislation to have a certain amount of land earmarked for future development, we have to assume that St. Thomas will look to acquire even more of our farmland in the coming years for that purpose. With nowhere else they can claim acres from, they will certainly be supported by the province, and we need to prepare for that likelihood and plan how best to slow our own suburban creep, instead. This will require a two-part approach, addressing financial growth and developmental densification.

As boundary proposals come forward, council will need to negotiate with a much firmer hand this term. Rather than lump sum income, we should be seeking perpetuity income from the taxes the city draws from acquired lands. This assures us that even if ostensibly residential parcels later become commercial or industrial, we increase our gains alongside St. Thomas. This offsets some of our need for further industrial spaces for our own revenue purposes. Perpetuity income also provides an income stream separate from residential taxes which can be invested in policies and programs that allow our current residents to more successfully densify inside Belmont, Port Stanley, and other built-up areas by adding granny suites, additional residential units, and other spaces that keep growth compact. This reduces pressure for suburban sprawl into agricultural spaces and encourages housing types that are increasingly demanded.