A common comment I hear about my little town is What About Riverview? What’s going on over there except sleeping? Is it ever going to be something?
Good question and to explore those questions,let me introduce myself.I’m Ian Gunn,resident of 26 years and currently a candidate for Ward 4. Some of those above questions were the motivation to deciding to offer myself for council this time around as I feel that a town of 17000 plus,should be progressing in all areas of development.We need to be a community that is not only a great place to raise a family but also a community to work and play in.
To do that,it is time for our town council to become innovative in attracting commercial development of a broad base type and that means we will have to think outside the traditional box to lure that type of business.
As a rookie candidate,I have put forth the following goals to help establish a starting point to broaden our tax base,increase our commercial diversity,create opportunities for our youth to stay and work in Riverview rather than leave for other communities for employment.
A/ be accountable to the citizens of ward 4. How? By having a minimum of 3 ward meeting per year,more as required.
B/ work to improve communication between town council and all residence of Riverview.
C/ Encourage council to be more transparent.
D/ Encourage council to think outside the box on both commercial and residential development.
E/ Hold the line on taxes.
F/ Encourage opportunities for youth
G/ Encourage the development of an environmental Green plan for our town.We should be leaders not followers in Greening our community.
I saved the infrastructure for last as this has become a very hot issue in my ward and is the most important one. Two of our roads are in substandard condition.Lawson Road and Trites Road are in dire need of major work and both for completely different reasons.I should point out here that in the newly developed bylaw under the Municipal Development Plan,By Law# 300-30, have been designated as two of seven major collector roads to feed to the new ring road.
If memory serves me correctly,Lawson Road was due for major upgrades almost eight years ago but has been postponed every year since in favor of larger and more expensive projects.A project that eight years ago would have cost less than ONE million dollars,is now destined to cost in excess of THREE MILLION DOLLARS. Not really a responsible way to spend tax payers dollars is it.
Trites Road was a stretch of road in dispute with the developer for more years than I care to remember and for reasons that have become embarrassing to both parties.Having said that,Tries Road never did have a road base properly built and following the guidelines established by this new by law for collectors roads,The town must now move forward immediately and construct a proper road,with sidewalks. Both of these roads and the residents they affect must be treated with do respect and fix the mess.
In a few days,I will be adding to this as my experiences of a rookie candidate grow.I hope before the election to explore some of the comments and suggestions from those I have met on the campaign trail as well as pose some questions of the Ward 4 incumbent in hopes he will offer some answers or opinions.
Till next time,
Ian Gunn
Candidate Ward 4-Riverview