Responses to Bayshore Questions

Bayshore Broadcasting sent candidates a series of questions. My responses are below:

1) Why are you running?
I’m running for a seat on City Council because I love Owen Sound. It’s where I was born and raised, where six generations of my family have made their lives and where I’ve chosen to live, work, play, and raise a family. Our city is a wonderful place but in 2022 we’re facing complex challenges including housing scarcity, an affordability crisis, infrastructure deficits, financial constraints, the drug poisoning epidemic, managing growth, and the climate crisis.
These problems are complex but it is possible to find solutions and to make decisions so that people can live with dignity and equity in Owen Sound no matter their age, ability, or income.
I want to be part of the team working on solutions to our challenges. I also have skills to support this work by improving the depth and complexity of discussion on key topics as well as the level of consultation and communication with residents. My professional background is in community coordination as the former coordinator of Violence Prevention Grey Bruce and the supervisor of the Men’s Program at CMHA. I’ve also worked as a project manager and entrepreneur doing freelance writing and facilitation work.

2) Are there any steps municipalities can take to east cost of living concerns? If so, what measures would you support?
Yes. The cost of living impacts every part of our lives:shelter, food, transportation, recreation, social connection. One way municipalities can help ease the cost of living is by leveraging community spaces and services so that residents benefit collectively. Interventions as wide ranging as providing effective public transportation so folks don’t have to have individual vehicles, opening more spaces for community gardens, ensuring maximum tree cover to cool our cities in the summer, designing streets for active transportation, and continuing to invest in public sport and arts facilities and activities can help folks to maintain a good quality of life as cost effectively as possible. The writer George Monbiot describes this kind of idea as ensuring private sufficiency while investing in public luxury so that the greatest number of people benefit. I support all efforts to do so while balancing financial, social, and environmental costs and benefits.

3) What are your ideas for economic development in your municipality?
The City of Owen Sound is not directly responsible for the state of the local economy but it’s decisions do have secondary impacts. Economic development requires connection between makers and markets, people and places, and supply and demand. Municipalities can’t create all of the conditions necessary for economic success but we can lay the foundations that make success more likely with policies that support housing, transportation, digital connection, and increased public use of public spaces.
Our economy is made up of multiple sectors with diverse but overlapping needs. Tourism and retail benefit from more events and foot traffic. Health care and education benefit from housing, transportation, and social activities to retain workers. Industry benefits from housing and transportation. Information and tech companies benefit from high speed internet. Everyone needs shelter, food, transportation, and fun.
The City can’t command businesses or workers to move to Owen Sound but it can support policy decisions, service delivery, and taxation models that improve quality of life to make Owen Sound a desirable place. This kind of approach benefits business owners, workers, and customers.

4) Do you think the municipality has a role to play in the recruitment and retention of physicians and other healthcare workers?
Yes, but not directly.
When I think about what attracts anyone to Owen Sound it’s the quality of life. Similarly to the previous question we need to support the type of quality of life that would make Owen Sound an appealing place to spend one’s working life. We have so much to offer already but there’s room for improvement so that any healthcare worker could find housing, professional opportunities for family members, recreation, and childcare.
Many health care and medical learners pass through Owen Sound during placements which gives us an opportunity to leave a positive impression so that Owen Sound is “where they want to live”. However, attracting folks is challenging in the current healthcare economy. We could help to lobby the provincial government and our MPP to make the reforms necessary to fill the gaps in the healthcare system by properly investing in the institutional, homecare, and mental health care systems. As the Province continues to refine the healthcare system, municipalities have a role to play in advocating for systems that are sustainable for workers and benefit the community as a whole.

5) What steps could municipalities take to help get more housing built that you support?
I think that Owen Sound needs to create a housing action plan to examine the current housing ecosystem, how the current City policies and practices impact it, what tools are being used by other municipalities, and what approaches Owen Sound needs to refine or adopt. Specifically I think that any development charge holiday should require at least a percentage of affordable units. Owen Sound can also reexamine zoning requirements, square footage minimums, parking space requirements, and zoning for additional dwelling units to increase options. I also think that Owen Sound should advocate for provincial and federal levels of government to create more funding opportunities for non-profit and cooperative housing.

6) Should the city do more to regulate short-term rentals, such as AirBNBs?
Yes, I think we need to regulate and license short term rentals (STR’s) like Airbnbs. Non-owner occupied STRs remove housing stock from the market making it harder for folks to find places to live in our community. However, owner occupied rentals can help some people to successfully offset the costs of homeownership in an increasingly unaffordable market. We’ve seen energetic discussion recently about the potential impact on neighbours as well as strain on our emergency response and community services when STRs are managed poorly. It should be noted however that disturbances are not only the result of STRs, anyone can be a bad neighbour.
This problem is not unique to Owen Sound. See this incomplete list of other community responses: https://www.ocrma.ca/str-bylaws/ .
As with any issue, our best response as a municipal government and community is to accurately assess the scope of the issue, learn from other communities’ approaches, facilitate conversations to hear the needs, concerns, and desires of the people of Owen Sound, and develop a robust regulatory framework. Regulation must be supported by enforcement. License fees can offset that cost. If we aren’t creating mechanisms to support our bylaws then the bylaws are meaningless.