A Different Vision

The lack of a strong, credible mayoral candidate with a different vision for Ajax has left the door open to four more years of a social-economic imbalance electors are pointing to for immediate action.

While our mayor deserves much credit for his vision since assuming office, times have changed. And so have the challenges of meeting our communities’ needs.

The lack of a strong opposition – in Ajax’s case, a strong alternate voice on Town Council – leaves residents with few options for moving towards a different vision that meets today’s needs e.g.:

-         policies that lead to sustainable, local job development

-         a complete re-think (in cooperation with three levels of government) for de-bottlenecking rush-hour traffic

-         fast-tracking the environmentally-sound provincial programs for smart growth – building up instead of out

-         creating safer communities affordably where neighbours are encouraged to look out for each other, instead of looking the other way, and ultimately;

-         lessening the tax burden on homeowners by moving towards well-defined and aggressive policies that encourage more businesses to establish in Ajax.

In the absence of a credible, alternate vision, it falls on Town Councillors to introduce options and policies that introduce those changes that residents are demanding.

When only 23% of Ajacians turned out to vote in the 2006 municipal election, it signalled something was desperately wrong in the relationship between electors and their local government.

The virtual acclamation next Monday of our mayor should give voters pause to think about the consequences of this accession by default.

People I’ve spoken to in Ward 1 these past nine weeks tell me they’re looking for someone capable of representing their ambitions on Town Council. I promise to do just that.